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THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

ITS GROWTH AND HEALTH IN EDUCATION 



WORKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR 



THE STUDY OF CHILDREN AND THEIR SCHOOL TRAINING. 

$1.00. The Macmillan Company, New York. 

MENTAL FACULTY: A Course of Lectures on the Growth and Means 
of Training the Mental Faculty. Delivered in the University of Cam- 
bridge. 90 cents. Cambridge: at the University Press. The Mac- 
millan Company, New York. '*', 

THE ANATOMY OF MOVEMENT: A Treatise on the Action of Nerve- 
Centres and Modes of Growth. Three Lectures delivered at the Royal 
College of Surgeons. Cr. 8vo, cloth. 



INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC SERIES 
PHYSICAL EXPRESSION: Its Modes and Principles. 



REPORT ON THE SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF THE MENTAL AND 
PHYSICAL CONDITIONS OF CHILDHOOD, with particular refer- 
ence to those of Defective Constitution; also containing Recommenda- 
tions as to Education and Training. Published by the Committee, 72 
Margaret Street, London, W. 



A Bibliography of Reports, Lectures, and Papers relating to the Scientific 
Study of Children, with reference numbers, is given on page 217. 



THE NERVOUS SYSTEM 
OF THE CHILD 

Its Growth and Health in Education 



I 



BY 



FRANCIS WARNER, M.D. (Lond.) 

F.R.C.R, F.R.C.S. (Eng.) 

PHYSICIAN TO AND LECTURER AT THE LONDON HOSPITAL, ETC. 

AUTHOR OF "THE STUDY OF CHILDREN AND THEIR 

SCHOOL TRAINING," ETC. 



Nefo gorfc 
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

LONDON : MACMILLAN & CO., Ltd. 
IQOO 

/III rights reserved 



TWO COPIES 

Library ^ % 

Office 

JAN 

Register of Copyright* 



538 



Copyright, 1900, 
By THE MACMILLAN COMPANY. 



SECOND COPY, 



J. S. Cushing & Co. — Berwick & Smith 
Norwood Mass. U.S.A. 



PREFACE 

At the close of the nineteenth century, as we review 
the progress that has occurred in the conditions of 
social life and the trend of public opinion and thought, 
we cannot fail to be impressed with the greater refine- 
ment and humanity in the management of children, 
and the increasing appreciation of the real value of 
the mental aspects of life. Most of the great achieve- 
ments of this century have resulted from the increase 
of exact knowledge and the application of scientific 
principles to the objects to be obtained. Perhaps in 
no branch of study has more activity been displayed 
than in that which concerns mind. Especially has 
much been accomplished in that part of this study 
which deals with the evolution of brain action as ob- 
served in the child. Recent advances in this direction 
have made it possible and desirable to adapt those 
methods to child-study which have been employed 
in physics, biology, natural history, and medicine ; i.e. 
methods of observation, description, and inference. I 
think there are a great number of readers and students 
who desire to obtain a real grasp of the great problems 
concerning the relation of mind and body in the child, 



vi PREFACE 

and following scientific principles are willing to work 
diligently to the attainment of that end. For this 
purpose they must know what to look at and what to 
look for in the child, as facts to be studied and aids 
to sound conclusions. Many students feel the need 
of knowing more of the character and significance of 
the phenomena they observe, which are often obscure 
in their origin, and desire to understand more about 
what they can see as definite facts. They desire — 
and rightly desire — to understand something of the 
mental attitude of their pupil corresponding to some 
distinct visible act. And, certainly, not to follow the 
workings of the child's brain, is to risk losing oppor- 
tunities of rendering assistance in the formation of 
character, and may lead to grave mistakes in edu- 
cation. 

This book is addressed to that large body of earnest 
workers for the welfare of children which is seeking 
for knowledge of facts and principles in harmony with 
the best wisdom attainable as to the mind and body 
of the child. To you who are engaged in this study 
scientific methods will afford something permanent in 
your work ; an inquiry followed out with intelligent 
purpose will give experience grounded on a sure basis. 
Dignity and success are added to the duties of caring 
for children by some employment of scientific methods 
of gaining knowledge. A mere rule of thumb expe- 
rience, valuable as the outcome of dealing directly with 



PREFACE Vll 

individual children, may be rendered doubly useful 
when directed by a deeper scientific knowledge, such 
as will place the phenomena of child life in their proper 
place among the facts of nature, and show how far it 
is wise to adjust environment to the child. 

The study of children, and a knowledge of the ner- 
vous system of the child and of the best means of 
promoting its health and training, concern parents, 
teachers, and members of the medical profession, each 
in their several relations. I trust that this work may 
lead to the harmonious action of all three classes in 
education, and in scientific study. 

Children are here for the most part described in 
relation to the school and to education rather than 
to the family. Individual children are described, as 
well as natural groups and their peculiarities, much 
stress being laid upon the study of observations. While 
thus adapting the work to the needs of teachers in day- 
schools and boarding establishments, it has been neces- 
sary to touch upon many considerations of hygiene ; in 
such matters the advice and assistance of the physi- 
cian is often necessary. In addressing this book to 
teachers I have endeavoured to indicate distinctly where 
help is required from medical science; as the oppor- 
tunities for useful advice from the medical profession 
increase, it is necessary that there should be a common 
understanding as to the terms to be used in the descrip- 
tion of the conditions of childhood. For these pur- 



Vlll PREFACE 

poses we must practise methods of observing children 
and making scientific inferences from what we see. 

Many medical men are now concerned with school 
work as managers or medical officers, or in other ways 
intimately associated with the care of children and their 
education. It appeared convenient to adopt the plan 
of addressing teachers rather than parents and medical 
men. Not to* burden the reader with technical matters 
of purely scientific and medical interest, references are 
given to reports and papers previously published, some 
of them statistical in character, which afford further 
explanation of the diagnosis, as well as methods of 
treatment, which could not be given in the compass of 
this volume. ' 

Mental study, pursued in a scientific spirit, must be 
founded on observations, and inferences drawn from 
them, as to the modes of brain action corresponding 
with those observations. In a former volume I have 
dealt at length with the methods of observing children ; 
here the experience gained is put before the reader 
with ample references to the observations on which it 
is founded. Still the student should learn to observe 
and describe what he sees for himself; otherwise he 
may simply receive dogmatic instruction, and fail to 
acquire progress in scientific thought and practice. 
General modes of brain action, indicated by visible 
movements, may easily be perceived, and their obser- 
vation recorded in accurate detail. Methods of classi- 



PREFACE IX 

fying observations will be readily appreciated by the 
student of natural history ; these classified observations 
amount to scientific descriptions of children, and we 
are thus enabled to follow with accuracy the mental 
conditions produced successively under the influence of 
education. As we- proceed by the methods employed 
in science and in clinical medicine, the need of mental 
as well as physical hygiene in the training of children 
will become apparent. Passing under consideration 
the stages of evolution in the child from infancy to 
adolescence, we shall by employing these means obtain 
insight into the proper management and training of 
children. 

My thanks are due to Dr. Wm. B. Dove for much 
assistance in correcting proofs and in preparing the 
index. 

F. W. 

5 Prince of Wales Terrace, 
Kensington, London, W. 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER I 

PAGE 

Introductory i 

The child at home and in school. Responsibilities toward 
children and in learning to understand them. The student of 
childhood should follow the methods of natural history; brain 
changes are thus observed, while class management is facilitated. 
The antecedents and surroundings of children. Growth of brain 
necessitates feeding and training. Brain the physical basis of 
mind, its cultivation. Hygiene, circulation, training; the brain 
reacts on bodily health. Impressions received upon the brain 
under guidance, stage by stage. School hygiene, mental and phys- 
ical. School aspect of childhood, constant observation necessary. 
Child-study leads to descriptions of boys and girls. Delicacy and 
mental dulness. Accurate observation guides training. Relation 
of physiognomy to brain and mental ability. Training brain 
action should precede instruction and bear on the future. Exam- 
ples. Physical exercises without use of words. Order of sensory 
impressions retained, their discrimination and comparison. Prepa- 
ration for other studies. Examples. Means of controlling the 
child, imitation. Rapid inference from observation of the child. 
Imitation of the teacher's weariness. Control of the school. 
Mental hygiene, faults of children studied. Examples. Brain 
training in infancy and early childhood. Spontaneity trained stage 
by stage. Impressions associated with words. Mental compari- 
son. Moral training. Previous training employed in teaching. 
The concrete aim in education. 

CHAPTER II 

The Brain and Body in Infancy and Early Childhood . 23 
Home life. The infant at birth, spontaneity of movement, 
strength of muscles, the limbs bent. Photograph of a baby. 
Sleep, habits, rapid growth of brain. The brain, its parts or nerve 

xi 



Xll CONTENTS 

PAGE 

centres. Their separate action and interaction on one another. 
Action indicated by movements. Brain needs nourishment and 
stimulation. The infant's head. The fontanelle, its pulsation, 
brain circulation, growth of head. The chest and lungs. Teeth- 
ing. Child at twelve months, care and training habits. The 
young child, spontaneity needs guidance, aptitudes of brain. 
School age, self-control, memory, mental method. Reversion to 
childishness. Limits of power of the child's brain. Examples. 
The child should be childlike for his age. All mental action 
expressed by movement. General character of brain action. 

Spontaneity motor and mental, it may be subnormal, deficient, 
excessive, or repetitive. Examples. Impressionability, its evo- 
lution expressed in many ways. Inhibition of movement lead- 
ing to regulated action, the pause before action. Examples. 
Attention. Control through the senses. Guidance with partial 
inhibition of spontaneity. Imitation at sight. Examples. Con- 
trol through muscle sense, its importance in hands and eye move- 
ments. Feeling of muscles in tension, in estimating weights, in 
number, and in proportion. Examples. Compound brain action. 
Interaction of nerve centres and final response. Examples. In 
simple imitation no interaction of the brain centres. Habits 
evolved by training. Retentiveness shown in acquired habits and 
memory, it leads to voluntary power, and is due to formation of 
nerve paths in brain. Coordinated action, movements in a series 
controlled through the senses. Brain centres become connected 
by nerve paths in practice. Examples in infant and child. Spon- 
taneity coordinated indicates dawning mental faculty. Spreading 
area of movement. Examples. A storm of passion, tricks and 
habits, stammering. Emotion fatigues brain. Response of the 
brain seen in movement. Pause between sensory stimulus and 
response, brain action in interval may correspond to thinking, it 
may be prolonged. General modes of brain action more readily 
appreciated than detailed signs. Description of a bright and 
healthy boy. 

* CHAPTER III 

The Child at School 48 

The child entering school. Scientific observation leads the 
teacher to inferences and experience. Reports on 100,000 chil- 



CONTENTS Xlll 

PAGE 

dren. What to look at and what to look for. Methods of obser- 
vation. The face and forehead. Nerve signs. Frontal muscles, 
corrugators, eyelids. The mouth, grinning, smiling. Expression 
of face. Eye movements. Attitudes and movements of the hand, 
as an indication of brain state, method of observation. Weak 
hand balance, seen in sleep. Nervous hand balance. Finger 
action, its brain significance, finger twitches. The spine, lordo- 
sis. Conditions associated with "nerve signs," their varying 
significance and connection with mental dulness. The basis of 
physiological psychology. Observation should guide training. 
Physiognomy and development of body, body and brain co-related. 
The head of the infant. The features, method of observation. 
The nose, mouth, eye openings. The palate. Growth and weight. 
Healthy spontaneity of brain and mental aptitude form a basis for 
training. Cultivation of impressionability and control through the 
senses, method of training, impressions before names. Examples. 
Culture of the senses. Training by muscle sense differs from 
drilling the muscles. Advantages of drill. Number and propor- 
tion felt. Impressions useful in later teaching. Evolution stage 
by stage. Establishment of nerve paths under training. The 
physiological law. Memory evolved. Coordination cultivated by 
exactness in training. Spreading brain action, fatigue, laughter, 
happiness. Response and expression. Simple imitation and 
higher forms of response due to interaction among brain centres 
in mental action. Vocabulary used in expression, response without 
words. Untruthfulness and epilepsy. Brain training and mental 
hygiene. Impressions implanted before thought can be arranged 
in words. Spontaneity and control lead to coordinated action. 
All teaching should be on a system preparing for the future. 

CHAPTER IV 

Observation, Description, and Classification of Children 

in School • 73 

Observation of movements in children. Examples. Move- 
ments classified without describing their cause. Uniform move- 
ments, tricks and habits. Examples. Some replacing spontaneity, 
others of low type. Increasing area of movements, laughter, 
emotion. Lessening movement. Attention, subsidence of emotion, 
sleepiness. Coordinated movements. Examples. Incoordinated 



XIV CONTENTS 

PAGE 

eye movements. Drill. Cricket. Nutrition of the body, signs of 
health. Testing sight and hearing. A well-made child described. 
Normal and subnormal characters indicated by signs observed. 
Child-study requires serious thought, self-training, and devotion 
to duty. Dr. Stanley Hall on natural history and child-study, 
their uses. Camper, an artist's description of joyfulness. Sir C. 
Bell's description of laughter. Mental irritability described. 
Metaphysical speculations. Subnormal nerve signs. Conditions 
of body to be observed. Schedule, a child of nervous type. 

CHAPTER V 

Evolution of the Child and his Brain Power ... 94 

The brain centres, analogy to soldiers under discipline. Evolu- 
tion in families and in the child. Laughter and emotion indicate 
spreading brain action. Mental evolution. Observe and infer for 
yourselves. Natural history and child-study. Unifort7ily repeated 
growth. Number of parts growing, increasing or diminishing. 
Coordinate action. Mimosa. Similar action in brain. Plant 
grown in poor soil. Reversion to childishness. Brain evolution. 
Analogy of brain centres and a regiment. Brain action here 
studied and metaphysics omitted. Mental action is expressed by 
movement. Time expressed by the hands of a clock. Scientific 
study of mental action. Nerve mechanism for thoughts. The 
pause of inhibition. Imitation in speech. Observation and infer- 
ence. Thought as represented in the brain. Analogy of brain 
action to an army or a telephone system. Formation of nerve 
paths corresponds to coordination. Impressionability. Examples. 
Inhibition. Examples. Coordinated action. Examples. Com- 
pound brain action. Examples. Words retained in order. 
Speech taught. Brain action corresponding to thought, its anal- 
ogy in army organisation. Method in teaching. The untrained 
brain is liable to disorder. 

CHAPTER VI 

Physical Care of the Child; Hygiene and Feeding . .117 

Health of body and brain. Delicate children need training. 
Interaction of the organs and the brain, good circulation. Brain 
regulates the organs of body. The blood, food and digestion. 



CONTENTS . XV 

PAGE 

Interaction of conditions in the body. Weariness, its causes. 
Care of the body, the child's duties. Unconsciousness of body. 
Clothing and dress. School time-table. Sleeping rooms. The 
child in sleep, brain circulation, awakening. Amount of sleep 
and work. Dormitory cubicles. Toilet and cleanliness. Care 
of eyes and sight training. Print of books. Light in room. The 
schoolroom. Oxygen and pure air, its temperature. School 
desks, method of writing. Dr. Hartwell on physical training. 
Dietary, superintendence of meals. Lunch in high schools. Dr. 
C. Dukes on dietary. Economical feeding. The matron's duties. 
Students at college, exercise and health culture. Health statistics 
of women students. Health capacity for duties in after life. 

CHAPTER VII 

The Training and Teaching of Young Children . . .140 
Training differs from teaching. Words do not always convey 
thoughts, useful words. Impressions associated with names. Physi- 
ology of physical exercises, nerve paths formed. Imitation of 
movements train coordination, but do not make thoughts. Hand 
exercises, method of procedure. Teacher controls the brain. 
Eye movements, their use in later teaching. Examples. Brain 
impressions produced analogous to mental action. Muscle sense 
employed in training. Muscle action impresses the brain and 
forms new nerve paths. Accurate exercises produce fatigue. 
School experience in coordinated exercises, they brighten the 
children. Dr. Hartwell on physical training. Brain centres 
adapted to mental processes. Brain impressions produced first 
and understood later. Teaching colours. Discrimination and 
choice. Value of fixed impressions and memory. Standard of 
weights and measurements, comparison of area, volume, size. 
Order in teaching stage by stage. Agreement and difference, 
the characters compared, colour, weight, etc. 

CHAPTER VIII 

Advancing School Method and Teaching . . . .159 
The pupil at school. Teaching numbers by movements. Im- 
pressions associated with names. Many kinds of impressions 
produced simultaneously must afterward be separated. Demon- 



xvi CONTENTS 



stration before explanation. Principles taught and demonstrated 
afterward. Classes of impressions formed stage by stage. Teach- 
ing the form of a card, the previous training required. Observa- 
tion and comparison. Coordinated teaching. Impressions and 
comparison without words. Examples. Learning the clock and 
sense of time. Names for objects and abstract ideas. Language 
for expression. Ideas of causation, antecedents, and sequents. 
Common mistakes. Brain impressions must be separated and 
classified in making comparison. Some spontaneity of brain must 
be allowed. "Question time." Geographical distance taught. 
Enlarging and limiting range of thought. Mental impressions 
guided in teaching. Teaching natural history. Memory of direc- 
tions or method. Parsing trains scientific analysis. Coordinated 
method. Mental analysis trained by observation. Schedule used 
in studying natural history directs observation. Examples of 
specimens observed. 

CHAPTER IX 

The Nerve Centres in Infancy, School Life, and Adoles- 
cence; their Health and Training . . . .174 
The infant brain grows rapidly, its pulsations can be felt. 
Value of play and child society. Preparing for scKool. Impres- 
sions better than verbal explanation. Good brain training pre- 
vents mental confusion. Spontaneous thinking. Children's 
criticisms of teacher. Indications of mental aptitude. Sponta- 
neity- the basis of mental power. Infant's brain action described. 
The school child must pause to think. Cultivating attention 
through eye and ear, effects of previous training. Mental fatigue, 
its causes and expression. Means of prevention. Value of work 
not proportional to the fatigue. Effective training saves brain 
wear. Lonesome children often tired. Memoranda help memory. 
Attention is spontaneity controlled. Example. Coordinated cell 
action in plants. Causes of inattention, spreading action, eye 
movements, deafness and eye defects, rapid heart action, delayed , 
expression. Memory mechanical like a phonograph. Too many 
fixed impressions lessen free mental power. Examples. Impres- 
sionability without retentiveness. Reception and reproduction of 
impressions, verbal memory. Interaction of impressions and ad- 
hesiveness. Memory of physical exercises. Rearrangement of 



CONTENTS XV11 



previous impressions. Systematic classification. Trains of thought. 
Learning facts, adhesion of ideas. Analysis and analogy. Social 
memory. Forgetfulness. Mental confusion from want of clear 
impressions. Reversion to childishness due to lowered brain 
nutrition. Spontaneous return of trains of thought, dreams, 
delirium. Replacement of thoughts implies dissolution of nerve 
paths. 

CHAPTER X 

Mental Hygiene and Voluntary Mental Power . . .194 
Physiology of mental action inferred from expression. Hygiene, 
physical and mental. Mental aptitude, each indication to be cul- 
tivated individually and collectively. Mental hygiene as a science. 
Voluntary power, consciousness not admitted as the cause. Analy- 
sis of voluntary action, motor and mental. Its connection with 
antecedents and dependence on the general characters of the 
brain. Spontaneity. Impressionability. Inhibition, concentrated 
attention. Dominant ideas. Suppressing outside thoughts fa- 
tigues. Control through the senses and muscles must be precise 
in early training. Previous impressions revive in order under 
direction or a dominant idea. Directions in teaching, if retained, 
aid voluntary thinking. Example. Established modes of brain 
action, methods of procedure. Voluntary action in home lessons. 
Coordination of brain from previous training aids volition. 
Spreading brain action may increase thinking, or interfere. 
Examples. Response may be delayed, but voluntary. Evolution 
of voluntary power stage by stage. Complex actions in harmony 
with the environment. Modes of brain action contributory to 
volition. Choice and comparison. Established modes of action. 
Examples. Voluntary acts independent of outside stimulus. Co- 
ordinated action without control. Intelligence indicated in the 
order of expressing thoughts. Examples. Voluntary obedience 
at home and in school. Example. Experience and training. 
Volition traced in modes of brain action. Well-established mental 
impressions interact under influence of environment. Examples. 
Voluntary power to be cultivated systematically. Spreading brain 
action may interfere. Health and volition. Involuntary move- 
ments. Voluntary thought without expression. Experience gained 
in school life. 



THE 
NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 



>>«<c 



CHAPTER I 

Introductory 

The children are the mainspring of life and interest 
in the home and in the school ; their demands are 
many and urgent, raising feelings in us of affection, 
and many thoughts as to their well-being in childhood 
and in the future ; they awaken a sense of our re- 
sponsibility towards the individual child, as well as to 
others, in as far as his future life and action may 
depend upon the wisdom and acquired experience 
which we bring to bear on his health and training. 

Such responsibilities begin in the family, where 
others besides the parents have an interest in the 
child, and duties to perform towards him. The well- 
trained infant is likely to become an apt infant-school 
pupil; and so throughout the early years, stage by 
stage, the child forms a centre of interest and duty 
in many and varied aspects. 



2 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

Still, it is a fact that children bring troubles to those 
around them, and much weariness in labouring for their 
welfare. ' Such feelings should, in response, awaken 
your efforts and the desire for further knowledge of 
child-life, and of understanding the dawn of mental 
aptitudes, which sometimes appear conflicting as seen 
in the child's feelings and modes of response towards 
those around. Such facts, if looked at without under- 
standing, are apt to lead to regrettable mistakes. Why 
does the infant cry ? What does he want ? Only our 
observation and experience can give an answer. So in 
the infant school, "Why will not the children stand 
still?" We shall see further on that spontaneous 
movements indicate the most hopeful conditions of 
the brain for the future. 1 

To the question, "Why does not the child under- 
stand what I say ? " it may be replied that perhaps 
your words raise no impressions in his mind because 
the necessary training has not yet been received. 

To trace out the meaning and the origin of our diffi- 
culties in dealing with children will give a new pleasure 
to the work, and enable us to plan in our own minds what 
to do, adding an intelligent interest to daily duties in the 
care of children of any age. (See Chapter VII., p. 147.) 

The student of childhood has a large field of observa- 
tion open to him. To know the mind of the child, and 
to trace out its developing faculties, necessitates much 

1 "Mental Faculty," pp. 24 and 68. The Macmillan Company. 



SCHOOL MANAGEMENT 3 

attention to child-study; and this, I think, should com- 
mence with observation of the child after the methods 
of natural history; describing what we see, classify- 
ing our observations, and making inferences as tp what 
is going on in the body and in the brain of the child 
before us. This power you will attain for yourselves 
by practice, with some understanding of what is occur- 
ring in the brain of the child before you, while you 
learn to adapt your methods in training to the condi- 
tions of the child and your own aims for his wel- 
fare. 

The class teacher, with his pupils before him, can 
look at each, and if he knows what to look for, he will 
be able to follow the changing brain moods of the pupil, 
watching the impressions the pupil receives from in- 
struction, their interaction, and the final outcome in 
expressing mental abilities or faults. 1 

The principal of the school needs to know each pupil 
sufficiently for the purpose of classification, and must 
readily appreciate character and mental abilities or dis- 
abilities. Such rapid .observation affords a basis of 
reasonable knowledge, which, when combined with 
experience, will suggest the best means of meeting 
the difficulties that arise with every child. 

The training of a child, the management of a class, 
and the arrangement and control of a school demand 
knowledge of the individual pupils and the formation 

1 Reference 49. 



4 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

of a rapid opinion of each from observation with infer- 
ences founded thereon. The conditions of each child, 
not merely the rules of the school, should help in form- 
ing a judgment of conduct. Does the pupil forget the 
lesson he learnt over night, or bring up a sum very 
incorrectly worked out, it is necessary and very inter- 
esting to analyse and follow out the causes of the 
success or failure; the faults may be in the child's 
brain while doing the work, as well as those due to 
want of accurate impressions received in previous 
training. (See Chapter X.) If you study brain action 
as well as the mind, you may observe what goes on 
in the child while under your guidance, and also when 
he is alone and self -controlled in his work. Child-study 
will give an interest to the life of the teacher who trains 
himself to observe and intelligently traces out what takes 
place in the pupil. This will add power and dignity to 
his work. 

In caring for the young you should never fail to 
consider the antecedents and the consequences of the 
present surroundings of the children ; * the past tells 
upon the present, and the present controls the future 
— as is commonly said, the child is the father of 
the man. 

A healthy brain in a healthy body is what we want 
to cultivate in the child (see Chapter IX.); the brain 
and the body are mutually dependent on one another, 

1 Effects of overcrowding, etc. References 10-12. 



BRAIN HEALTH 5 

and without the health of each, mental power and 
activity will run low. The brain is the physical basis, 
or seat of mental action such as is expressed in gesture, 
movement, or by spoken or written words ; further, the 
action of the brain gives vitality to the body, con- 
trolling its nutrition as well as the processes of diges- 
tion, respiration, and circulation. Thus, a healthy 
condition of the blood demands proper feeding and 
digestion, while for its purity it requires oxidation (see 
Chapter VI., p. 127); exercise with walks and play in 
the sunshine quickens a healthy circulation, both in the 
body and the brain, supplying them with the neces- 
sary food and oxygen ; light and well-ventilated rooms 
being necessary for the same reason. (See Chapter 
VI. p. 122.) Physical exercises, drill, and gymnastics 
aid development of the chest and lungs; also tending 
to strengthen the growth of the heart. The brain acts 
upon the body; its disorderly action may cause dys- 
pepsia, palpitation, and breathlessness ; liability to 
nervous disorders often results from want of early 
discipline in well-regulated modes of brain action, and 
training in those systematic modes of mental procedure 
which might save the child from too much emotion 
followed by fatigue and exhaustion. The young per- 
son who is allowed to grow up without good and 
established habits, is liable at adolescence to excite- 
ment, emotion, restlessness, and is apt to suffer from 
consequent palpitation, dyspepsia, and prostration, 



6 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

which early and continuous culture might do much 
to prevent. 1 

The brain receives impressions through the senses, 
while other activities in it appear to be spontaneous. 
In training and in teaching we endeavour to produce 
impressions in the brain ; some directing, guiding, and 
controlling the natural spontaneous activities, while 
others are designed to produce the special action which 
we wish. When showing an object, you may make 
the child look at it, and feel it, both as to its size 
and its weight ; thus impressions are produced in his 
brain. When he asks "What is it?" you couple the 
name with what he sees ; then as he feels the weight, 
you name that impression as " heavy." Such training 
by physical impressions should, I think, precede any 
attempt in giving descriptions and making compari- 
sons ; impressions must be received accurately in the 
brain before they can be compared. The child can 
associate " heavy " with the feeling of an iron weight 
in his hand, and "light" with the feeling of an empty 
pill box. Later on, after he has gained experience, he 
will be able to compare the weight and the box. 

These considerations as to the relations between 
mental action and the brain on the one hand, and the 
body on the other, lead me to speak of the Hygiene 
of School Life in its physical and mental aspects; 
these subjects will be dealt with in later chapters. 

1 Reference 27. 



SCHOOL HYGIENE 7 

School Hygiene is generally understood to describe 
the means of cultivating bodily health, and avoiding 
the illnesses and diseases common during the period 
of childhood, especially those that are preventable, 
such as diphtheria and the infectious fevers. Mental 
Hygiene can hardly be said to be established as a 
science, yet many facts have been accumulated avail- 
able for the purpose. 1 

The school aspect of childhood is naturally that of 
success in acquiring knowledge, and learning the sub- 
jects taught; while the development of brain power 
and character is also aimed at. Other aspects of 
childhood may also be kept in view; child-study will 
throw much light upon educational problems and ques- 
tions that sometimes arise, as between the home and 
the school. 2 Teachers see the child in the school in 
the morning, fresh and active, when he may be quick, 
eager, and conscientious in work ; the parents see him 
at night, tired, peevish, and fretful, as well as disin- 
clined for either food or rest. Observation might soon 
show at what period in the day fatigue signs com- 
mence, — when, though mental work continues under 
the stimulus of school surroundings, the brain nutrition 
begins to decline. The brain is a sensitive organ, it 
performs much work in the body ; it is dependent for 

1 Reference 9, " Milroy Lectures," and 48. 

2 See author's "Study of Children,"* Chapter XIII. The Macmillan 
Company. 



8 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

healthy power upon the food it receives through the 
blood, and becomes fatigued after receiving many im- 
pressions continuously through the hours of work ; 
this will be described further in the next chapter. 

A child sometimes looks full under the eyes, with 
a lack of expression and lassitude on entering the 
schoolroom, signs which may pass off during a healthy, 
well-regulated day's work and play, while inquiry shows 
unhygienic surroundings in the home life. 1 Some physi- 
cians have said that all young children are delicate — 
they speak from experience limited to their patients; 
some head-mistresses have said that girls can study 
as hard as boys ; inquiry, founded on observation, 
demonstrates that delicate or ill-developed girls are 
more apt to suffer in health from adverse circum- 
stances than boys similarly constituted. 2 

Child-study, leading to description of the children 
as we see them, enables us to make classifications in 
many groups according to the purpose in view. We 
may take a group of children all found to be delicate, 
and study their brain conditions as described, and their 
mental aptitudes. One hundred children may be se- 
lected as dull or below the average in mental ability ; 3 
results of observation will show a certain proportion 

1 Reference 29. 

2 See " The Study of Children and their School Training," p. 245. 
The Macmillan Company. 

8 References 15, 41. 



CHILD-STUDY 9 

who are also delicate, especially among the girls; 
further, it will be seen that most of these children 
present irregularities in movement and action, which 
can be removed by good training with the probability 
of improvement in mental ability. Many causes of 
mental dulness are removable. Many varieties of 
children will be met with, and may be described, either 
as to their mental abilities, or as to the points ob- 
served in their health, physiognomy, development, 
and the nerve signs seen in the movements, which in- 
dicate the action of the brain. When a child is 
observed and studied in each of these ways, a descrip- 
tion is obtained, showing much of the visible indica- 
tions of the state of the brain and its mental functions. 1 

Training is a responsible work ; each child should be 
known to the teacher as an object of study. The action 
seen in a child may admit of different interpretations ; 
his movements may be due to much spontaneity, or to 
the restlessness of fatigue. The practice of accurate 
and scientific observation is a responsibility and a duty. 
When the teacher knows what to look at, and what to 
look for, a rapid and correct opinion will be formed in 
class work; whereas sometimes regrettable mistakes 
result from guessing as to why a pupil does not do 
what we think right. Points for observation in children 
will be given in Chapters II., III. 

It will thus be found often — not always — that the 

1 Reference 32. 



10 THE NERVOUS* SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

boy with ill-moulded features, and small eyes and 
mouth, who is slow and inexact in his movements and 
response, is also usually dull in mental work. 1 The girl 
small in build and in head, with good features, change- 
ful expression, and quick response in movement, is 
usually bright in class ; but apt to be delicate, and often 
disabled. The types and varieties of children are end- 
less, yet all need care and training ; hence child-study 
is essential to the teacher, that he may understand the 
pupil before him, and do his best according to experi- 
ence. 2 In the same class one pupil must be urged to 
quicker response ; another to be more deliberate and 
to pause to think ; a third to look before he speaks. 
Training and guiding brain action and mental action 
should precede instruction, and is the principal object 
to be aimed at in the earliest years. I here distinguish 
between training and instruction, or teaching. We 
train the pupil to look at objects, to make a choice of 
one, to feel it both as to its weight and its size ; we make 
him feel it in various ways — thus producing impres- 
sions on his brain. We teach him the numerals, and 
train him to count objects as he looks at or touches 
them, before teaching the use of figures for numbers. 
We train the child to feel weights, i oz., 2 oz., 4 oz., and 
teach him the number which expresses each weight ; we 
make him feel the 2 oz., then the 4 oz., and teach him 
that the latter is twice the former weight ; later he is 

1 See " School World," Macmillan. Reference 47. 2 Reference 8. 



PHYSICAL EXERCISES II 

taught multiplication, proportion, and other modes of 
comparison. (See Chapter VII. , p. 155, and X., p. 199.) 

All training should bear on the future, and be con- 
ducted stage by stage, with the object of educating 
brain action and its faculties for mental work. Much 
of this training may be effected without many words ; 
whereas knowledge is generally imparted to the child 
by verbal teaching, when each word must be understood 
before accuracy in mental training can follow. 

We all know that physical exercises, marching, organ- 
ized movements, and games are useful in training young 
children ; they influence the brain action by guidance. 
These exercises are not said to give knowledge or to be 
understood by the children, although they are acted out 
and remembered, becoming more exact by practice and 
more readily performed with less guidance ; but one ad- 
vantage of physical exercises in brain training is that they 
can be employed before words of direction are under- 
stood by the pupil. With nervous children it is some- 
times useful just to get them to perform the exercise 
and make the movements required, so avoiding all 
chance of exciting the child by talking much to him. 1 

Training is needed to cultivate the general character 
of brain action, bringing its spontaneity under tempo- 
rary control (inhibition, see Chapter II.), producing 
repetition of action with some accuracy (retentiveness or 
memory), and imitation of the teacher. Training is also 

1 Reference 27. 



12 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

necessary to enable the pupil to retain and reproduce 
his impressions in their order; that is to say, they 
should easily hang together or become coupled in the 
order in which they were received, such as repeating a 
series of acts as taught, and in naming objects in the 
order in which they were seen. He should learn to dis- 
tinguish what he sees from what he feels ; colour, size, 
as apart from weight, length as apart from bigness. 
Later on he should be trained to remember, and sub- 
sequently to name and compare, lengths, sizes, and 
weights. All this makes a basis for understanding arith- 
metic hereafter. (See Chapters VII., p. 146, IX., p. 180.) 
All children need cultivation of good speech and pro- 
nunciation ; for this purpose the child must learn early 
to look steadily at the action of the teacher's mouth, 
in making elementary sounds and in articulation. 

To understand and remember a map, the pupil must 
look all round the outline, along the course of the 
rivers, and at the points which represent the site of 
towns. He must associate looking up the map with 
" North," looking to the right with " East " etc. The 
proportion in distance between the dots representing 
towns, and lengths of portions of the coast, or boundary 
lines, can only be appreciated and remembered after 
training and practice. 

Observation of the individual pupil should precede 
and accompany his training ; 1 if young, and full of 

1 " School World." Reference 45. 



TRAINING THE CHILD 1 3 

spontaneity, as yet uncontrolled, you want to know 
whether he is best guided by the spoken words of 
direction, or through your gestures, pointing, and 
imitation; for children vary much in these particu- 
lars. He will stand and move as he sees you do, 
and look towards what is pointed out, and then name 
it as he looks at your face. He will examine objects 
or count them as he sees you do, and in feeling them, 
receive impressions of length, size, weight, by his 
senses and the muscle-sense of which I shall have a 
great deal to say. Though there be much restless- 
ness, and a tendency to chatter, he may imitate your 
quiet action; if he never pauses to think, you may 
arrest his spontaneity, momentarily after a question, 
by your attitude before allowing a reply. When the 
sum in addition is inaccurate, 1 see whether the diffi- 
culty arises (i) in looking accurately at the figures 
in the column or (2) in adding the units, or (3) in 
setting down the total and carrying ; these are three 
different brain processes. (See Chapter IX., p. 184.) 
Observe any signs of extra brain action or superfluous 
movements the while ; do his fingers twitch on the 
pen, do the muscles of his face work; are the eyes 
moved regularly ; is the tongue protruded at each fresh 
effort ; are any signs of fatigue to be seen ? All 
these manifestations will be described in a later 
chapter. 

1 See " Study of Children," Case 2. 



14 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

Class training calls for rapid observation and infer- 
ence; a mode of action often spreads quickly among 
children, especially laughter among those somewhat 
of the nervous type, by imitation. The teacher's 
action, modes of expression, and method in work, im- 
part training and knowledge to the pupils ; at the 
same time an efficient teacher receives, it may be un- 
consciously, many impressions from the class with 
which she is in sympathy ; favourable impressions may 
even be imitated by the teacher from her pupils. 
Thus, the teacher controls the class, and the children 
react upon the teacher. This adds much to the 
moral responsibilities of class teaching. I have often 
seen the signs of fatigue, attitudes and indications of 
lassitude, imitated by boys and girls from a teacher 
who might by a voluntary effort avoid any expres- 
sion of weariness, just as any tendency to impatient 
words and gestures is suppressed voluntarily. 

Control of the school demands that the principal 
should be possessed of experience with a large grasp 
of the objects of education, and the abilities and dis- 
abilities of children ; no aspect of childhood should be 
unobserved by the manager : 1 for, except where the 
school is a small one and the pupils are selected as 
suitable to its constitution, the requirements of all sorts 
and conditions of children call for due consideration. 
The Hygiene of the schoolroom forms an important 

1 Reference 50. 



MENTAL HYGIENE 1 5 

item in management, of which some details will be ex- 
plained later on in Chapter VI. 

It is mainly of Mental Hygiene, as dealing with the 
mental abilities and disabilities, that I now propose to 
speak in relation to school management; because this 
may, I think, assist in bringing together the class 
teacher and the principal in the work of organising 
the classes and the school. 1 A pupil good at class 
exercises in reading, history, mental arithmetic, and 
geography may be most inaccurate in transcription 
and spelling ; consultation might show that he has 
good mental power and memory, but that he is short- 
sighted; or more likely inexact in eye-fixation, so that 
he does not see words exactly. This is a common 
cause of such difficulties, needing eye-drill, of which 
I shall speak presently. If the school is a mixed one 
receiving boys and girls, some rules of discipline can- 
not wisely be enforced in all cases ; while the boy with 
headaches and sleeplessness or debility may stand some 
strain, there is apt to be more danger under these con- 
ditions for the girl, if required to work beyond her 
strength. 2 Here observation and experience will indi- 
cate the exceptional cases where rules would be wisely 
relaxed. Organisation of the classes may include 
pupils of about equal age and mental ability; they 

1 Reference 49. 

2 Recurrent headaches. See British Medical Journal, 1879, Dec. 6, 
and "Brain," 1880, Part XL, and Reference 51. 



1 6 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

will, however, vary much in disposition and methods 
of work. This is probably for good. Children of the 
nervous type are gregarious ; it is well that they should 
associate with others of more stolid type, and, it may 
be, slower in mental action. The class may show a 
tendency for too much laughter, a spirit of criticism 
of the teacher, in which the pupils emulate one another, 
some display of vanity or other form of emotion; too 
much harmony from mutual imitation, calling for the 
association with children of more varied type. Some 
child-faults are difficult to understand. A boy secretes 
things belonging to another, he does not use them, 
and when detected denies the act; such cases some- 
times depend upon ' petit mal' or slight epileptic 
attacks ; the family history will probably afford some 
explanation. Mental confusion is often caused by the 
occurrence of spontaneous thoughts, and these are 
frequently accompanied by spontaneous movements 
which you can observe ; the brain then needs training 
to more methodical action. Mental confusion may be 
due to many other causes, which we shall consider 
presently. 

Cultivation of healthy mental habits should begin 
early in training the brain, before the use of words ; 
all that makes for the health of the body, aids growth 
and future power of the brain ; air, light, feeding, and 
personal comfort in the surroundings. General liveli- 
ness and healthy spontaneity may be encouraged by 



TRAINING THE INFANT \J 

management of the infant, while regularity in the times 
of attention to all his wants, and the times for sleep 
and out-door airings, prepare him for methodical occu- 
pations later on. Early training of speech, commencing 
with the elementary vocal sounds, may be tried in the 
second year. The little child must be made to look 
at your face, and particularly at the mouth as you 
make the sounds he is to imitate; then any power 
acquired in fixing his eyes on an object for a moment 
enables baby to see the mouth in movement, which he 
partially imitates; this action in his brain becomes 
coupled with the impression of the sound heard, and 
the expression of the face seen. The baby grasps 
objects with either hand, and with the two together; 
things that are heavy soon fall, thus he receives many 
impressions on his brain produced by sight, sound, and 
feeling, such as are afterwards employed in making 
comparison. He may soon be controlled in imitating 
some of your movements, though spontaneity continues 
marked the while in parts not thus engaged. Any 
attempt at control is very likely to be followed by 
some spreading action, as, a smile in the face, or move- 
ments in the hands and feet; at sight of you as you 
speak he may move all over. 

In the child's third year you acquire more control 

over his brain action ; he has more power, and holds 

up his head and puts forward his hand and moves it 

up and down as you do, once, twice, three times. 

c 



1 8 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

His movements at first will not exactly resemble yours 
in the regularity of time or degree of action ; only in 
number. You need not try to teach the numerals as 
names ; but even thus early you may produce impres- 
sions on his brain for a moment or two, which will 
be useful afterwards in training him to count. So also 
colours may be shown without being named, his brain 
is impressed through his eyes, but we do not want yet 
to elicit any choice, comparison, or expression. (See 
Chapter X., p. 205.) We do not require many names 
for things or for expression, rather a few terms for 
direction and control, such as "sleep," when he is laid 
in bed comfortably; " quiet," as he sees you are still; 
"good," when you are able to smile at him. 

Still much remains to be attempted in training be- 
fore the regular occupations and teaching of the 
kindergarten or infant school commence; spontaneous 
activity should be increasing, leading to many impres- 
sions as the eyes are directed to objects, things are 
felt having size and weight, actions in other persons 
are seen, and many words are heard. Moreover, such 
spontaneity indicates the activity of the brain which 
will shortly become capable for the expression of 
organised thought. In advancing the training afforded, 
stage by stage, exactness in action as to time, some- 
times uniformly repeated, at other times varied, brings 
the brain under control through the senses, leading to 
the growth of those characters of brain action which 



IMPRESSIONS AND WORDS 1 9 

are necessary to mental processes, as will be further 
explained. The child's brain is thus prepared to per- 
form the actions that are required when teaching him. 
As the child grows, many impressions may be pro- 
duced and associated with words ; terms are wanted, 
available as directions for acts: "sit," "stand," "throw 
the ball" ; names of colours, and the feelings associated 
with "light," "heavy," "short," "long," etc. Also as 
to movements of the eyes and hands, "up, down," 
"right, left," and in many other matters; as you pro- 
nounce a word the child tends to repeat it. (See 
Chapter VIII., p. 170.) Training should precede in- 
struction, but needs to be continued along with it, as 
controlling brain growth and organisation, and producing 
the impressions dealt with in teaching. Thus training 
in regular and uniform hand movements forms a basis 
upon which you proceed to teach the numerals in 
counting, and makes the child feel that ten movements 
are greater or more than one. So, training to move 
his eyes and to count enables him to count at sight, 
while the use of numbers as expressed by the numerals 
gradually becomes familiar and understood before 
figures are used as symbols in arithmetic. Again, 
training the pupil to feel weights in his hand enables 
you to impress their significance; and he feels ten 
times the pull from the ten-ounce weight succeeding 
that of one ounce. Later on he can understand that 
"4 ounces of tea weigh twice the 2-ounce weight." 



20 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

When a child has been practised in some of the uses 
of numerals, he may learn to make choice of one object 
from among many — one marble taken from a basket- 
ful — simply because he is directed to take one. He 
should acquire methodical habits in procedure — say 
a method in examining any object he is directed to 
observe; you can point to the parts of it, then make 
him do the same. Take a post card and point to each 
corner, let him pass his finger along the top from cor- 
ner to corner, then down the side, moving at the same 
rate — he will have felt the ratio though he may not 
be able to express it; he may say, "top longer." He 
cannot express the length of the top and the sides by 
numbers till he has learned a standard of measurement ; 
this requires experience and practice. (See Chapter 
VIII., p. 160.) In a lesson on the daisy flower there are 
many parts to look at, and the proportions of the green 
bracts, the white florets, and the little central yellow 
ones have to be described. All the training previously 
given will help in part to prepare the pupil for further 
teaching; so you progress stage by stage. I think 
that, in early years at least, we should produce many 
impressions on the brain such as I have shown we can 
control, and then couple them with words in teaching, 
and bring them into new relations under further in- 
struction. Such training will assist the class work in 
reading, arithmetic, and geography. 

The advancing pupil must often be taught by the 






VERBAL TEACHING ' 21 

use of words, not thus directly connected with impres- 
sions which you can make on his brain. In moral 
training you may teach the precept, "Those who are 
good will be happy ; " the boy will learn this as he 
writes it in his copybook and remember the words; 
only his subsequent impressions from experience will 
make him really accept its truth. 

As another example, " All things tend to fall down." 
This statement may easily be explained when the child 
knows the meaning of "up," "down," and "falling." 
Many observations will agree in showing that things 
when unsupported do fall; the reason of this or the 
explanation of the fact will not be understood till 
much knowledge and experience have been acquired. 
Thus verbal impressions established early may gather 
strength with experience, or it may be that subsequent 
impressions will modify early teachings. It is some- 
thing to the advantage of the child to have such early 
training as helps to connect or arrange his experi- 
ences, which may change in subsequent periods of life ; 
in school days he may not think that "the good boys 
have the best time," with manhood's riper experience 
he may be convinced the other way. 

Thus it comes about that knowledge is largely 
founded on observation and experience, but equally 
important is the share that is due to method as im- 
planted by training and teaching. 

It is very desirable that the teacher should form a 



22 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

definite idea of the purpose of his labours, and, in the 
detail, form a concrete conception of his aims in an 
individual lesson, their connections and uses. Each 
lesson should afford some exercise in training the 
mental faculties for future use, as well as in employing 
those previously established as a means of implanting 
knowledge and experience. 



CHAPTER II 

The Brain and Body in Infancy and Early 
Childhood 

Many conditions leading to success or failure in the 
outcome of the later educational years depend upon 
the care bestowed during infancy and early childhood. 
I speak now of the first seven years of life as includ- 
ing the period of the nursery and home-training, rather 
than that of the school ; it should, however, be distinctly 
understood that there is no such epochal period in 
Nature, but growth and development in some direction 
or other occur continuously, though not uniformly — the 
age period mentioned is convenient for description, but 
is in no way apart from the responsibilities of later life. 

In infancy growth and development occur rapidly. 
During the first twelve months the head increases from 
a circumference of fifteen inches at birth, to nineteen 
inches ; while the brain thus grows rapidly, there is a 
proportional evolution of faculty, mostly displayed in 
the movements and action of the child. Spontaneous 
and almost unceasing movements of the body charac- 
terise this period of great brain growth, while the body 
increases in weight from seven pounds to twenty 
pounds in the first year. 

23 



24 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

The infant at birth is not impressionable through the 
senses ; the most marked characteristics you will ob- 
serve are the considerable strength of the muscles, and 
the amount of spontaneous bodily movement alternat- 
ing with sleep. The strength of the muscles is shown 
in grasping your fingers; this may be so firm as to 
enable you to raise the infant's body so that it is sus- 
pended as he clings to your hands. The limbs are at 
first mostly kept flexed or doubled up, any attempt to 
straighten them out, as at the elbow, is strongly re- 
sisted. The elbows are mostly kept bent, the thighs are 
folded up towards the body, and the knees bent also ; 
such postures alternate with stretching out of the limbs 
and movements of the toes. These postures return in 
states of childishness. (See Chapter V.', p. 101.) The 
muscles of the back, however, are weak ; when the child 
is placed in a sitting position the spine bows backwards, 
and the head cannot be held erect. With increasing 
strength and development the limbs straighten out, the 
head is held erect and is moved about, while later on 
the back assumes the curves of the adult. 

When movement is observed but does not appear to 
be controlled in any way through the senses, it may be 
called spontaneous, as being due only to the activity or 
vivacity of the brain ; it is originated in the child's brain, 
not excited from the outside. Spontaneous movement 
is seen at the earliest stages of infancy and continues 
as characteristic of brain action in early years ; this is 




SHOWING SIMULTANEOUS MOVEMENT OF THE LITTLE FINGER 
AND THE LITTLE TOE ON THE SAME SIDE 



THE INFANT 2$ 

most marked in the small parts of the body, the fingers 
and toes ; all may open out together, or one digit at a 
time. 1 

The photograph shows the little finger and toe on 
the left side moving outwards as the child bent forward, 
looking at its father's foot. I shall have much to say 
about this spontaneity, and the brain conditions which 
it indicates. 

In early days short intervals of wakefulness alternate 
with periods of sleep. In sleep the eyelids close and 
movement subsides except as to quiet breathing. If 
you gently raise the eyelids you will see the pupils 
minutely contracted, while the eyeballs may be moving 
separately, showing brain in activity. 2 The brain is not 
acting in sending out force to the muscles during sleep, 
circulation of the blood through the brain continues, as 
you may know by feeling the brain pulsate at the top 
of the head, quiet nutrition of the substance of the 
brain goes on ; this is indicated by the infant's liveli- 
ness when he awakes refreshed. 

The infant needs training even from the moment of 
birth. Habits of regularity in the times of feeding 
and sleeping and in bodily requirements may be 
established and lay a foundation for acquiring further 
character, while towards the end of the first year 

1 Tracings of the movements in " Anatomy of Movement," p. 4. Appa- 
ratus used in taking tracings described in " Physical Expression," p. 348. 

2 British Medical Journal, 1877, March 10th. 



26 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

expression may be elicited and new lines of action may- 
be formed by control through sight and sound : the 
child hears, sees, and feels. The great increase of 
brain growth calls for health culture; judicious feed- 
ing, light, cleanliness, good ventilation of the sleeping 
rooms, and out of door promenades — all are necessary 
to healthy growth and the formation of the faculties 
to be trained in the second and succeeding years. 

The brain is an organ of the body, just as the heart 
is ; the parts of the brain can act separately and per- 
form different functions. One portion of the brain, or 
nerve centre, as it is called, may to a great extent act 
independently of other parts, while the various centres 
may act upon one another. It has been established by 
experiment that excitation of a particular brain area 
may cause contraction of a certain group of muscles, 
and thus produce a special movement, which is then an 
indication of the nerve centre acting. The brain is the 
principal organ producing the movements you see in 
the child. 

The brain, like all living things, needs a supply 
of nourishment ; while stimulation by sight and sound, 
viz., by what is seen and heard, is necessary for the 
healthy development of its functions. 

You cannot see the child's brain, but you may care- 
fully examine the head which contains it ; take every 
opportunity of doing so, and notice the signs of activity 
in the body at the same time. The head at birth 



CIRCULATION IN BRAIN 27 

measures 13.95 inches in circumference in the male, 
and 13.57 inches in the female. The fontanelle is 
a soft spot at the top of the head where you can 
feel the pulsations of the brain as it receives blood from 
the heart through the arteries ; you will not be able to 
feel this fontanelle when the child has reached school 
age. The soft spot is a space between the bones of the 
forehead and those forming the sides of the brain 
case ; it is closed in by a membrane and covered by the 
scalp ; the surface here should be gently convex, not 
flat or sunken in, but continuing the general rotundity 
of the head. In an infant five or six months old 
you will feel pulsation, due to the amount of blood 
pumped into the brain, which swells up ; this pulsation 
is also to be felt during sleep, showing that circulation 
in the brain continues during rest. When the infant 
is weak or ill the fontanelle sinks in from feebleness 
of the circulation in the brain, and at the same time 
spontaneity of movement subsides, — the child is too 
motionless. A good circulation in the brain is nec- 
essary to its activity. Besides the pulsation in the 
head due to the heart-beats, you may feel extra rising 
of the fontanelle with each act of breathing, while when 
the baby cries and gets red in the face, it swells up 
from the extra blood in the brain. Full movements 
of the chest, as well as the heart-beats, promote brain 
circulation. The fontanelle gradually closes up by the 
growth of the bones around it. It is largest at about 



28 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

the seventh month and is not to be felt after the first 
year. 

The head enlarges with brain growth, its circumfer- 
ence increasing to 19 inches at the end of twelve 
months. The brain at birth weighs 11.67 ounces in 
males and 10 ounces in females, and at from six to 
twelve months it weighs 27.40 ounces in males, 25.70 
ounces in females. 1 In this rapid growth of the brain 
during the first year you see the way in which care 
for the health of the infant prepares the material 
structures upon which the benefits of training and 
education are to be implanted. 

You should also look at the chest of the infant, and 
the movements of breathing. The chest is the cavity 
containing the lungs and the heart; it is formed by 
the ribs, which are attached to the spine behind and 
to the breast-bone (sternum) in front. The movements 
of breathing expand the chest and draw air into the 
lungs through the nose. In form the chest is slightly 
conical, smallest at the collar bones, with its largest 
circumference towards the middle of the body. There 
should be no flatness at the sides, nor any sinking in 
of the walls at any point as the breath is drawn in. 
The average girth of the chest is at birth 13.25 (males) 
and 12.65 (females) in inches; at five years, 21.40 
inches; at seven years, 22.54 inches. 2 

1 Tables of brain weights, see " Study of Children," p. 33. 
a Further account, see op. cit. t Chapter II, 



GROWTH OF CHILD 29 

The lungs are the organs used in oxygenating the 
blood which circulates through them; their full ex- 
pansion during early life is important, and like the 
brain they grow rapidly. The average weight of the 
lungs at birth is about 2.7 ounces, and at five to seven 
years about 9 ounces. 

At about the ninth month teething begins ; the pro- 
cess may give much trouble. When commencing 
practice I carried and used a gum-lancet, but experi- 
ence showed me that most of the disorders attending 
this period are due to want of proper hygienic care, 
or bad feeding and the use of starchy foods, as well 
as other preventable causes. 1 

Towards the end of the first year, the child will 
begin to imitate action in other persons, and to some 
extent becomes controllable, so that he may be trained 
to make some of the elementary sounds of speech and 
the movements used in walking ; of course without 
allowing him to rest his weight on his feet. 

Throughout childhood, habits need training ; much 
may be done with the infant by regularity in the time 
for all things, and also in attention to health, in feed- 
ing, cleanliness, good ventilation, light, and daily 
promenades. The brain grows and the lungs grow as 
well as the body and the bones ; the child may easily 
be spoilt in the first year from want of attention to 
the health of the body and the brain. Regularity in 

1 See " Study of Children," Chapter XII. 



30 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

feeding has much to do with promoting proper diges- 
tion and establishing good habits; meals should be 
supplied at stated intervals ; feeding the infant because 
he cries is a bad habit, easily encouraged. Uniform 
times for lying down and for airing out of doors, as 
well as for playing with his mother, help to form good 
habits in the child. 

General playfulness and liveliness may be encouraged 
by talking to the child ; he will play with toys, which 
should be few and selected, he will grasp them, transfer 
them from one hand to the other, or seize them with 
both hands, generally conveying all things to his 
mouth, though objects are soon dropped. 

The infant develops into the young pupil; spon- 
taneous brain action is abundant as expressed in much 
movement and in chattering ; there is also some 
capacity for control through the senses, guidance of 
action under verbal direction, and, what is most im- 
portant to early training, growth of the faculty of 
imitation. 

These characters of the brain all demand cultivation 
and training, they interact on one another ; and each 
has its place in the development of mental faculty 
and capacity for instruction. Retentiveness of im- 
pressions and the modes of their interaction or mem- 
ory come later. It will now be found that the larger 
brained children have more aptitude, while those 
with little heads are more delicate. The very quiet 



CONTROL OF THE CHILD 3 1 

child may be good and give but little trouble ; the 
stronger child has so much spontaneity that, till con- 
trollable and capable of guidance, his activities may 
interfere with good order and quietness ; still the con- 
dition is hopeful. 

In the years of school life the acquired power of 
self-control under guidance of impressions received in 
training, with memory for modes of procedure, direc- 
tions, and principles previously taught, together with 
experience, gained and retained, give some intellectual 
ability, and begin to build up a basis of character 
which has been developed stage by stage, leading to 
capacity for duties in voluntary action or obedience, 
and to consideration of circumstances and the well- 
being of other persons. 

We shall see examples of such activities when de- 
scribing the general character of brain action, and in 
some brain moods and their reversion to a childish 
status in school children. 

It is useful to separate what it is actually in our 
power to do with the infant and the child, from what 
we try to make his brain perform. We can, as shown, 
do much to encourage regular times of sleep ; we 
cannot make the child rest. We can prevent him 
from injuring himself with unsafe objects, but cannot 
make him feed himself till he has acquired coordi- 
nated movements ; we cannot make him walk, but 
can direct the movements of his limbs or prevent him 



32 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

from walking. We can guide the pupil's hand in 
drawing or writing, or we may attempt to get his brain 
to do as we do in imitating our movements for physical 
exercises. At all stages the child should be childlike 
for his age; we do not wish him to be precocious. 

The rapidly developing brain is here our chief 
concern, and will now be described in speaking of the 
general character of brain action. 

The condition, status, and working capacity of the 
brain may be early observed and described by care- 
fully noting the expression, movement, balance of the 
body and its parts, and the response in action elicited 
through the senses. These are the direct outcome 
and signs of action occurring in the parts of the nerve 
system (the nerve centres). It must be remembered 
that all mental action is expressed by movement and 
its results; whether it be spoken or written words, in 
action and in doing things, or by gestures and facial 
expression. 1 

On these matters I have written recently in School 
World 12, and am indebted to the Editor for per- 
mission to quote from these articles. 

The general characters of brain action may be de- 
scribed under ten headings; some only will be seen in 
early infancy, others evolve later, but all will need 
cultivation. 

1 Reference 2. 

2 School World — January to April, 1899. Macmillan & Co. 



CHARACTERS OF BRAIN ACTION 33 

(1) Spontaneity in brain action for movement is 
characteristic of the infant, and is proportioned to the 
circulation as felt at the fontanelle. You see spon- 
taneity in the child when you observe changeful ex- 
pression on his face or smiling about the mouth 
spreading upwards around the eyes to the forehead, 
apparently of self-contained origin, not stimulated by 
what he sees or hears at the time. The eyes may 
turn to either side without being directed to you or 
any particular object, the movements may be up and 
down, as is often seen when thinking. The hands 
may show much spontaneity of finger movements, 
either as they hang by the sides, or when held out 
straight in front, on direction to do so. The feet may 
be shifted, the shoulders shrugged, and the head 
turned about without apparent cause other than spon- 
taneous restlessness. There may be also spontaneous 
or uncontrolled utterances. All these movements 
represent healthy activity in the young brain, as long 
as the spontaneity is controllable ; each act seen 
corresponds to the action of some brain centre. 
Spontaneity in movement lessens at seven or eight 
years of age as coordinated action gradually increases 
towards adolescence; while in mental action spon- 
taneity remains till the brain degenerates. 1 

Many thoughts in children's minds appear to arise 

1 Muscular movements in man, and their evolution in the infant. Jour- 
nal of Mental Science, London, April, 1889. 
D 






34 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

spontaneously ; " imaginations," such as building up 
fairy stories, imaginary conversations, the doings of 
dolls and animals; thoughts in great part, at least, 
not controlled by what is heard or seen around. So 
in adult life; we think many thoughts other than those 
directly due to impressions of what we see and hear, 
thoughts arise in the mind (or in the brain) indepen- 
dently of the senses. This faculty of self-contained or 
spontaneous thinking lasts later in the life of the brain 
than the spontaneous vivacity of movement in the body. 
The adult is quieter in action than the child, but per- 
haps more self-originated thoughts arise in the mind, 
such as ideas of philosophy and those expressed in 
poetry. 

Spontaneous action may be subnormal ; it is lost 
in illness, and is often absent in the child with a 
deficient brain. In chorea, or St. Vitus's dance, it is 
excessive, also in some brain conditions of reversion of 
childishness, the fidgetiness of fatigue, and in irritable 
peevishness. Spontaneous movement may be uni- 
formly repetitive, seen in "fixed habits," frowning, grin- 
ning, grimaces, and other subnormal action that will 
be described in the next chapter. In any case, each 
spontaneous movement as you see it, is due to, and indi- 
cates, discharge of nerve force from a nerve centre or 
portion of the brain. 1 

(2) Impressionability of the brain is not marked in 

1 See Diagram of Brain, " Study of Children," p. 37. 



IMPRESSIONABILITY AND INHIBITION 35 

the infant at birth, and there appears then to be no 
control through sight or hearing; it is, however, af- 
fected by warmth, and by cold as well as hunger, 
which cause crying. When three or four months 
old a marked impression may be produced by sight 
and sound in momentarily inhibiting movement ; while 
later, such stimulation and inhibition is followed by 
controllable action. The child devoid of impression- 
ability is ineducable, and those without sight, or deaf, 
are at a great disadvantage from absence of such 
paths for brain guidance. Much will be said here- 
after as to different modes of producing impression 
on the brain, and the interaction of impressions in 
various ways. Impressionability may be indicated 
by any of the remaining general characters. (3-10.) 
(3) Inhibition of movement 1 is seen in the infant of 
four or five months, when spontaneous action is mo- 
mentarily arrested under the stimulus of some sight 
or sound; this may be followed by reappearance of 
movement as before, even if the stimulus continues, 
or it may be succeeded by some new line of action. 
The baby's fingers may simply keep still for a few 
seconds, or, the hand may move towards the object 
seen, while the fingers then grasp it ; such prehen- 
sile act is called a coordinated (or regulated) move- 
ment. 

1 The study of cerebral inhibition, Brain, 1888, XLIII., Macmillan; 
and Journal of Mental Science, 1889, with tracing. 



36 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

Action such as I have just described corresponds 
to the first mental attitude of attention. I hope the 
reader will look for himself at some infants, and 
notice this most interesting and important sign of 
dawning mental power. 

You ask the pupil a question ; he pauses a moment, 
and is still : if he answers in reply to your direction 
you know that some brain process of thinking occurred 
during the period of inhibition. 

The pause period does not then mean absence of 
brain activity — as in sleep — but a new kind of action 
among the brain centres. The mere arrest of move- 
ment in young children is not necessarily " attention " ; 
they may stand still without either thinking or mov- 
ing. The faculty of inhibition of movement becomes 
rapidly manifested under good training. 

(4) Control through the senses. — In the infant, con- 
trol by sight and by sound are seen in any coordinate 
action following; such as grasping an object within 
view, or turning his head to the speaker ; but at this 
stage, control is very temporary. When you are 
able to arrest spontaneous movements of fidgetiness 
you have clearly produced some impression on the 
child ; but unless more than this is effected, it can 
hardly be said- that you have controlled the brain. 
You wish to guide the child, and to train new and use- 
ful action in harmony with the surroundings, and to 
enable him to do as others do and to think as you 



MUSCLE SENSE 37 

think. Such control of the brain may be established 
through sight and hearing. The effects of control 
are seen in action adapted by what the child hears, 
or what he sees in objects or the written page. Control, 
like all means of training, is usually in part an inhibition 
(or partial arrest) of spontaneity ; when you get the 
controlled action wanted, there may still be some 
spontaneity accompanying it. If the pupil responds 
to you, perhaps it does not matter if he fidgets, and 
moves his hands while so doing; you guide and con- 
trol spontaneous action without subduing it. Control 
of brain action, or, the discipline of class, is sometimes 
better effected through sight than by hearing; when 
the child is restless on being spoken to he may quietly 
obey your looks or gesture. Imitation is a form of 
control mainly effected by sight, especially at sight of 
action in the teacher or in classmates. 

(5) Control through muscle-sense. — The literature of 
education contains many references to training the 
hand and the eye and the senses, as well as to the 
importance of exercising the muscles in drill, gym- 
nastics, and games. I do not think that the control 
of the brain by impressions received from the muscles 
— or muscle sense — has been sufficiently considered as 
a means of brain training and a method of use in edu- 
cating mental ability. (See Chapter VII., p. 145.) 

Muscle sense in movement may produce impressions 
on the brain ; as in a hand and finger action when 



38 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

feeling the size and dimensions of an object, or in 
moving the hand to point out objects and parts of 
them. Any action in movement is caused by the con- 
traction of muscles, which not only produce what we 
see, but also send stimulus up to the brain and pro- 
duce an impression on it. Movements of the eyes in 
counting, or in following the outline of a map, or the 
figure drawn on the blackboard, thus produce impres- 
sions by muscle sense. 

Muscle sense in tension is another means of con- 
trolling the brain and producing impressions. The 
tension or strain in a muscle when contracting and 
overcoming a resistance is felt by the brain ; this 
occurs when a weight is held in the hand, the muscle 
sense in tension being affected in proportion to the 
weight. Exercise in thus appreciating weights by feel- 
ing them is most useful in training the pupil to 
understand " addition " and " proportion," which he 
may thus be made to feel. 

It is not easy to test muscle sense till some means 
of expression has been acquired by the child. This 
faculty is indicated in the pupil who counts objects or 
marks on the blackboard — either at sight, by moving 
his eyes (by use of the muscles of the eye-balls) or his 
fingers in pointing ; or again as he counts on his own 
fingers, bending them one after another ; also in meas- 
uring distance or dimensions by sight or feeling. Both 
the size and the weight of objects are thus estimated 



BRAIN CENTRES INTERACTING 39 

by muscle sense, while weight can be discriminated 
from size after practice. 

(6) Compound brain action, or compound cerebration, 
is a most interesting process to watch in the young 
child; as this faculty develops, it begins to afford the 
basis of brain action leading to mental power. An 
impression made on the brain through the senses may 
stimulate two or three nerve centres, which, after send- 
ing out nerve currents, may become quiescent and 
rest again. The centres thus secondarily stimulated 
may act in similar manner, becoming quiet in their 
turn ; thus there is not an ever increasing amount of 
brain action ; but the first group of nerve centres stim- 
ulates the second, and the second acts on the third, 
— so that finally an adapted action in movement or 
expression results. 

This is very analogous to a trained set of impres- 
sions or thoughts, as a process established in the 
brain, where the question or direction leads to 
thoughts arising in order, during a pause ; the final 
result being expressed in response. The pupil, who 
has previously been taught, is told to examine a seed- 
ling pea that has been sprouted in damp moss ; he 
holds it and removes the case with a needle, divides 
its parts, the two cotyledons, the stem and the root, 
finally placing each part in order on a card. Here 
one act follows another in the order taught; centre 
after centre in his brain acts and then rests — if every- 



40 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

thing is attempted at once the object is smashed. Thus 
a series of acts is performed one after another in order, 
involving the fingers and eyes of the child ; the whole 
action followed a very slight stimulus ; viz., the verbal 
direction of the teacher. So a hand exercise learnt 
may be repeated, act after act, without confusion or 
guidance. 

In such examples of compound cerebration there is 
interaction of parts of the brain on one another, 
whether under continued guidance, or following a 
simpler direction and the results of former training. 1 
Interaction of one brain centre upon another may be 
inferred when the expression seen differs greatly from 
the sensory impression which it follows, but at the same 
time is clearly adapted by it. When the child simply 
imitates your movements, each separate act is guided by 
sight, there is no necessary interaction among the 
centres ; when the exercise is repeated from memory, 
the centres react on one another in the repeated order. 
This process of compound action among brain centres 
is not observed in the young infant, it is only developed 
gradually, and built up in the child as the faculty of 
retentiveness grows and is cultivated. Habits and 
modes of procedure in action are established by train- 
ing, and thoughts are learnt in order as taught ; this is 
physiologically represented in the brain by established 
modes of order in action. 

1 References 2 and 6. 



BRAIN IMPRESSIONS RETAINED 4 1 

(7) Retentiveness in the brain is shown by movements 
when a physical exercise is readily repeated in each 
act of a series, and in orderly habits carried out punctu- 
ally ; also in a series of words or thoughts remembered. 
It is probable that retention of the arrangements in the 
brain centres, both for series of movements and 
thoughts, depends upon similar physiological conditions ; 
viz., the establishment of nerve paths between the 
centres, by which nerve currents pass from one to the 
other in order, calling them into successive activity. 
Retention of the terms of direction used in control- 
ling a child, coupled with the action intended, is im- 
portant; the words of command should be uniformly 
used, and heard distinctly, to be followed by the action 
directed. In this way terms of direction become useful 
means of self-contained control, in cultivating voluntary 
power later on. Retentiveness much depends upon the 
distinct and definite or accurate reception of the impres- 
sion to be retained. If the child is to remember where to 
find his books, he should look at them and see them in 
their place, when he has put them there ; if he is to 
remember the order of the numerals he must hear 
each word distinctly ; and, better, feel movements for 
each number named. Retentiveness is not seen in the 
earliest infant stages ; it may be cultivated in the child 
by regularity in habits and in the order of doing things. 
Retentiveness may lead to persistence in doing some- 
thing, or continuing to do it too long. When a class of 



42 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

children are told to hold out hands, some persist in doing 
so after the rest have dropped theirs ; thus the action in 
the brain is retained. 

Memory is a form of brain retentiveness both for 
words and action ; thus the teacher draws a map on 
the blackboard and points out the site of the principal 
towns, while the pupils reproduce the map at home. 

(8) Coordinated action. — As to movement, this implies 
regulation of each act in the series of movements 
brought about at first by control through the senses. 
You throw a ball at a boy ; he catches it and throws it 
back ; the sight of you and then of the ball quickly 
advancing so determines the order of his brain centres 
in producing his movements that this well coordinated 
action follows. Practice makes him more apt in catch- 
ing the ball, the nerve mechanism for executing the 
required action works more and more accurately ; this 
rapid advance in coordinated ability is a good indica- 
tion for future mental capacity. 

In training this faculty of coordination under guid- 
ance, the nerve centres exercised thereby become 
gradually connected by nerve paths, so that the action 
is easily and accurately repeated ; or, as we say here, 
compound cerebration is built up, and the action called 
for may follow a simple direction. Impressions on the 
brain and thoughts may be similarly coordinated ; 
when you point out the parts of an object two or three 
times over, the child looking at each in succession will 



EXPRESSION OF EMOTION 43 

at last remember all that has been shown him. Co- 
ordinated action, when often repeated, tends to be 
retained, but at first it will be accompanied in expres- 
sion by some spontaneous movements in a young child ; 
still, if effectual control is established, that is all that 
we need look for. 

In the infant, a little after inhibition is first observed 
— that is, about the fifth month — coordinated action is 
seen, when at sight of an object the hand is moved 
towards it and the fingers, first opening, then grasp it. 
It is here that spontaneity, controlled and regulated, 
leads on to the more precise coordinated action. We 
thus see that inhibition, succeeded by some coordina- 
tion of movement becoming gradually more exact, leads 
on to the retention of order in action among the nerve 
centres, and the dawning signs of compound cerebration, 
indicating faculty for intelligence. 1 

(9) Spreading area of movement. — Visible action may 
spread without control, or as the result of stimulus by 
sight, sound, or feeling. A smile may spread in the 
face, following some spontaneous thought; this may 
pass on to widening of the mouth, half closure of 
the eyes, turning of the head, and movements of the 
hands and fingers till, in a burst of laughter, the whole 
body seems to take part. When the child is told to 
make a calculation in mental arithmetic, the tongue may 
be protruded, then the eyebrows contracted, the head 

1 Reference 5. 



44 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

and eyes turned upwards, while movements are also 
seen about the mouth and lips. When a child's finger 
is hurt, the angles of the mouth become depressed and 
its line arched downwards, the brows knit, and the 
forehead crumpled, with the eyelids closed; while the 
fingers are much moved and the respirations disturbed, 
the child growing red in the face ; finally his closed fists 
are pressed to his eyes and he cries aloud. So, in a 
storm of passion, the boy turns his head and eyes 
towards a schoolfellow, the canine tooth on that side 
is uncovered, the eyelids are retracted, a conflict of 
muscular action about the mouth may cause the lips to 
twitch. Breathing quickens, the face, at first pale, now 
flushes, the chest is fixed, the fists clenched, and he hits 
out. In other instances, in place of rapidly spreading 
area of movement seen in expression of emotion, a 
uniform trick or habit is observed accompanying any 
mental effort ; the tongue may be protruded when the 
child is spoken to ; the head moved to one side, some 
uniform grimace may be seen, or the feet may be 
shifted. Stammering is a spreading muscular spasm 
attendant on pronouncing certain sounds. 1 

In all cases the spreading area of movement ob- 
served indicates a nerve centre discharging its nerve 
currents to more than one brain centre, and then not 
resting ; so that the nerve currents become reinforced 
or strengthened as they pass from one nerve cell to an- 

1 "Study of Children," pp. 95, 115, 117. 



EXPRESSION BY MOVEMENT 45 

other over a widening area of the brain, finally proceed- 
ing to the muscles which produce the movements seen 
as expressing the brain action occurring in emotion. 
This represents a superfluity of brain action in move- 
ment. 

(10) Response of the brain to some stimulus is seen 
in the movement following an impression through the 
senses. An object comes within view of the infant ; 
the act of seizing it which follows shows early re- 
sponse in his brain, producing the movement. It has 
already been said there may be a pause between the 
sensory stimulus and its expression ; you may observe 
an interval between the eyes turning to the object, and 
its being grasped. When a question is asked, there 
is an interval before the reply, if thinking takes 
place; the brain-processes corresponding to thoughts 
occupy time. The response, either in movement or 
any mode of expression, may be delayed. 

Thus modes of brain action indicated by movements 
which you may observe, have been described as repre- 
senting different kinds of action among the brain 
centres, which will be found to correspond with various 
mental states, affording faculties, all of which need 
cultivation and training. It was convenient thus to 
commence with some description of the brain in 
infancy and childhood, by speaking of the kinds or 
classes of action, instead of giving detailed signs ; be- 
cause, as each class is expressed in many ways, they 



46 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

must be more or less familiar to you from associating 
with children, and some points referable to each class 
may have previously attracted your attention, so that 
you can recognise their place in this classification. A 
case is here given in illustration : — 

A Bright, Healthy Boy Ten Years Old 

i . Spontaneity. — Playful. Expression bright, often changing ; 
eyes much moved. No frowning. Finger movements. 
Talkative. 

2. Impressionability. — Looks at what is shown him, quiet 

when spoken to, and looks at teacher. Generally 
obedient. 

3. Inhibition. — Is quiet when called upon in class ; after a 

short pause replies to question put, then looks at others 
in class. He stops to think. 

4. Control. — When looking about, is better controlled by 

a gesture than a word. Prompt in physical exercises. 
Answers something to each question. 

5. Muscle sense. — Expresses fairly the weight of coins felt; 

can compare lengths at sight well, and count objects. 
Good at games. 

6. Compound cerebration. — Free hand exercises performed 

under guidance or without it. His thoughts are be- 
coming orderly and systematic. 

7. Retentiveness. — Each of his movements and their order 

exact in physical exercises. Good memory for vocabu- 
lary and poetry. 

8. Coordination. — His movements are well regulated and 

orderly ; so are his thoughts for subjects he has been 
taught, as rules of arithmetic. 






A BRIGHT BOY 47 

9. Spreading action. — Seen in his playfulness after school ; 
in fidgeting during lesson. He asks questions not 
appropriate to the lesson sometimes. 
10. Response delayed. — Interval between question and an- 
swer becomes longer when fatigued; also when he is 
slow in thinking out the reply. 



CHAPTER III 

The Child at School 

When the pupil is received into the school his 
proper class place may be wisely determined by some 
observation of the child, as well as a brief mental ex- 
amination. It is in the observation of the general char- 
acters of brain action, as described in the last chapter, 
that a rapid judgment may best be formed as a first 
aid in school classification. To determine the indi- 
vidual status of the child, including his abilities and 
special needs in training, detailed points must be de- 
scribed, such as will afford indications of the manage- 
ment wanted in class training; it will be seen in the 
next chapter that the class teacher may obtain much 
help in understanding his pupil from a detailed descrip- 
tion : this serves to guide his own further observations 
and experience. When the children in a class are 
known in this way, observations will soon accumulate, 
and experience will be gained for the establishment 
of a Mental Hygiene, and also in employing the prin- 
ciples of physiological mental science as an aid to 
educational methods. In subsequently studying the 
records thus obtained, and the various faculties making 

4 8 



OBSERVATION OF CHILDREN 49 

up the sum of the brain capacity of children, we shall 
see the needs of infancy preparing for childhood, and 
of the child developing to adolescence and manhood 
or womanhood. 

The results of my observations of one hundred 
thousand children in schools have been analysed and 
classed in various ways ; 2 they are always grouped as 
boys and girls separately, so that differences and resem- 
blances among them may become apparent ; they have 
also, as far as possible, been arranged in age-groups, 
to show the progress that occurs during school life. 
Thus a basis of facts has been provided for the sci- 
entific study of the mental and physical conditions of 
childhood. 2 

In observing the child, you must know what to look 
at and what to look for ; after a time you will learn, 
from what you see, to make correct inferences as to the 
conditions and the changes occurring in the brain of the 
child before you. Much help in this work will be de- 
rived from methodical procedure and description of the 
facts seen. When making your observations, do not 
talk to the child or touch him, but let him stand quietly 
as you look at him point by point. To do this conven- 
iently it is necessary to prevent the child from looking 
at you, while examining his head and face : if you hold 

1 " Report on the Scientific Study of the Mental and Physical Conditions 
of Childhood." The Macmillan Company. 

2 For statistical analysis see References 15, 41. 

E 



50 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

up a small object in your hand, just telling him to look 
at it, this fixes his eyes, and he does not see you as you 
look at him. 

Now proceed to examine his face part by part. The 
face may be described in three zones, — the forehead 
above the eyebrows, the eyelids, and the parts around 
them, — then the lower part of the face, including the 
cheek-bones and the nostrils, with the region around the 
mouth, — each area presents points for observation. 

The child's forehead should be generally smooth and 
placid, corresponding to quiet brain action, and a men- 
tal status neither wholly uncontrolled nor too much 
stimulated. There are two pairs of muscles in the fore- 
head, the one placed vertically under the skin so that 
by their contraction they make horizontal creases, the 
other is placed horizontally between the eyebrows, 
drawing them together in action. 1 

The frontal muscles acting, cause frowning, with 
horizontal furrows of the forehead ; this may accompany 
a discontented mental state or an unoccupied attitude. 
The sign is often repeated as a habit. It is much more 
frequently seen in boys than in girls, and is most com- 
mon in those with any degree of brain defect. 

The corrugator muscles knit the eyebrows, drawing 
them together, thus producing vertical furrows. This 
may be seen under mental stress, or in a class engaged 
in mental arithmetic. It may also occur together with 

1 Drawing of muscles of face. See " Study of Children," p. 21. 



THE MOUTH — SMILING 5 1 

horizontal frowning, causing a bad scowling expression 
in the face. 

The orbiculares oculi form a pair of circular mus- 
cles surrounding the eyelids and closing them ; they 
also give good tone to the lower lids in a lively child, 
and shapeliness, while in smiling they make folds in the 
skin. In fatigue, and the debility accompanying head- 
aches, these muscles lose their tone, the face looks 
full and baggy about the eyes, the muscle is lax, and 
the shapeliness of the lower lid is lost. 1 

The mouth. — In the lower part of the face the 
mouth and the parts around it are the principal seat of 
expression. The mouth, when quiet, should be closed, 
breath being drawn in through the nose ; but some 
children cannot breathe without opening the mouth. 
This is a matter calling for medical treatment. The line 
of the mouth is naturally nearly straight, but the angles 
may be drawn upwards or downwards. 

Grinning and over-smiling consists in an upward and 
outward movement of the corners of the mouth, widen- 
ing the opening and making creases in the face running 
from the nostrils to the angles of the mouth. Similar 
action occurs in healthy laughter, which spreads to the 
eyelids. In conditions of pain the angles of the mouth 
are drawn down ; so also at the commencement of cry- 
ing and other spreading movements. In the state of 
passion the canine tooth on one side may be uncovered. 

1 Reference 28. 



52 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

Expression in the face as a whole is one of the best 
signs of the mental status of the child. A bright, 
lively, changeful expression indicates spontaneity, and 
is a hopeful sign of mental aptitude, while a spreading 
smile about the mouth to the eyelids shows brain ac- 
tivity, and may indicate mental action which the pupil 
cannot express in words. 

The absence of facial expression is a marked sign of 
a dull brain without spontaneous activity ; this may be 
seen in fatigue, or day by day in an exhausted child. 1 
The face may bear a good general expression, and in 
addition show any of the signs described; conversely, 
these signs may be seen in a face devoid of general 
expression. 2 

In looking at the face you see the eyes ; i.e. the eye- 
balls — the muscles that move them have special nerves 
coming direct from the brain, apart from the nerves 
to the muscles of the face ; eye-movements should 
therefore be observed apart from action in the face, 
and are very interesting as signs of brain action. 

Eye-movements may show much spontaneity, turning 
every way, though most frequently in a horizontal di- 
rection, leading to but vague impressions at sight, 
though many objects may be seen. Some children 
look about, and at the words in the book, by moving the 
head only, not turning the eyes at all. Try how the 
child follows your finger as you move it, whether by 

i See " Study of Children," Case 21. 2 Reference 4. 



OBSERVING A CHILD 53 

moving his eyes or his head ; test a]so his power to fix 
the eyes well on what *he is told to look at. Irregular 
eye movements interfere with learning geometry. (See 
Chapter IX., p. 180.) 

The hand in its attitudes, the movements of its parts, 
and its ability to perform many actions is almost as 
good an index of the brain as the face. 1 In order that 
you may observe the effects of the action of the brain 
on the hand it must be free to move within your view ; 
neither hidden behind the child's back, nor resting on 
the table, but held out and balanced as the muscles 
move it under the control of the brain. 

Let the child stand; tell him to hold out his hands 
in front with the palms down, and show him the action 
momentarily. In a well-trained active child response 
follows ; the arms are raised to the level of the shoul- 
ders and horizontal, straight at the elbow, the arms 
being parallel to one another, and the distance of the 
chest apart. The hands and fingers should balance 
straight at the wrists and knuckles ; all parts with the 
fingers and the thumb in the same plane, so that a card 
placed on the back of the hand is touched by each 
digit. This shows a normal or good balance among 
the brain centres, well coordinated by training. As 
the balance depends upon a uniform action of certain 
brain centres, you should not make the child hold out 
his hand thus for more than half a minute at most; 

1 References 3, 9, 16. 



54 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

the attitude is tiring, like any persistent uniform 
mental effort. 

The weak hand balance shows a marked difference 
from the straight attitude ; this may occur in different 
degrees. The wrist droops, the bones of the palm of 
the hand are somewhat folded together, while the 
thumb drops and all the fingers are slightly bent. All 
this shows less action in the muscles, and less force 
produced in the brain centres which make them act. 
If you get the child to look at your straight balanced 
hand and imitate it, you control his brain attitude to 
be more like yours; as he sees your hand, his brain 
centres begin to act and balance as yours do, and the 
hand straightens up. Thus you influence the brain 
of the child through his eyes by sight of your hand, 
controlling his brain centres : all this you may observe 
as the hand straightens in imitation of your action. 

If you gently raise the arm of a child in sleep, the 
hand falls into the weak or drooping attitude, which 
is characteristic of a brain state not sending out force. 
The weak hand balance is seen in those who are list- 
less, careless, or tired; it is common to observe the 
posture more marked on the left side ; and also to find 
that a child, when directed to hold out his hand, keeps 
the left at a lower level than the right, whereas both 
should be at the same level. 

The nervous hand balance is a modification of the 
posture last described, and like it may be seen in vary- 



BALANCE OF HAND 55 

ing degree. The wrist droops, the palm is folded or 
contracted together and looks narrow, arched on the 
top and hollow on the under surface ; the thumb is 
bent back and each finger is bent back at the knuckle- 
joint. This attitude, like the weak hand, is often more 
marked on the left side. You will not see this in the 
restful conditions of sleep; it indicates some degree of 
weakness, together with some overaction or excitability 
of the brain centres. 

The nervous hand balance is common among nervous 
children and adults ; those who sleep badly, suffer from 
headaches, often with capricious or voracious appe- 
tites and disturbance of digestion, and vague debility 
without disease. 1 This sign does not indicate a state 
of brain inactivity like the " weak hand " ; rather weak- 
ness with excitability, such as characterises the condi- 
tion of St. Vitus's dance ; it is not usually accompanied 
by mental dulness of brain. 

The fingers can move separately, each act being due 
to the activity in a brain centre ; thus the parts of the 
hand move separately, indicating brain action in writ- 
ing, or express thoughts in drawing, or produce music 
on the instrument ; in each case the centres for finger 
movements are guided by sight. Finger movements 
indicate the brain state. 

Finger twitches. — When the hand is held out for 
you to look at, if the fingers touch one another they 

1 Reference 32. 



56 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

give mutual support, and you will probably see no 
movement ; therefore take care to see the fingers sepa- 
rated or spread out, when they ought to be straight and 
steady. 

You may, however, see twitches of one or more 
fingers; these may be either up and down (flexor- 
extensor) or lateral, — the latter are more common in 
nervous mental conditions. Finger twitches often ac- 
company the " nervous hand" posture in weak con- 
ditions. 

The spine is a column composed of many small 
bones, and is capable of being bent in various direc- 
tions ; postures of the spine should be noted. 1 If a 
child when at his desk constantly bends to one side, 
making one shoulder higher than the other, some 
lateral curvature of the spine is likely to follow — stoop- 
ing and bending the back in reading or writing may 
be due to short sight, requiring the use of spectacles. 
As the child stands, the shoulders should be at an equal 
height, with the head erect ; when the hands are held 
out quietly in front, there is no alteration in the outline 
and curves of the back resulting from the action if the 
child is strong. 

Lordosis. — When the hands are held out, the action 
may result in arching forward of the lower part of the 
spine at the loins ; while the upper part between the 
shoulders is thrown back. This is best seen in a profile 

1 See Drawing, " Study of Children," p. 23. 



NERVE SIGNS 



57 



view of the child, and is due to weakness of the muscles 
of the back, and commonly accompanies a state of 
debility. An energetic child will often shoot forward 
his hands, especially if the fists are closed, arching the 
back at the same time ; the energy of such action 
shows the absence of weakness, while the exercise can 
be more quietly repeated without movement of the spine. 

Other nerve signs I have described elsewhere, 1 only 
repeating here those that are most obvious and easily 
observed, specially selecting such as should attract 
your attention as being points which may guide class 
training, and adapt it to promote mental abilities and 
remove the brain disabilities indicated by these sub- 
normal nerve signs. If the child does not stand 
straight and move the eyes well, these form matters 
for attention in the exercises used. My chief purpose 
is that your method in training should be guided by 
your own observations of the pupils in the class. (See 
Chapter VII., examples.) 

A few remarks may be useful as to the relations 
between the general characters of brain action and the 
individual nerve signs, which have not always the same 
significance, just as the meaning of words varies ac- 
cording to the connections in which they are employed. 
Thus — "frontals overacting" is usually a sign of 
spontaneous action in the nerve centre producing it. 
(i) In as far as you cannot control the movement, 

1 See Author's " Study of Children." 



58 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

this sign also shows want of impressionability, (2) and 
incapacity for quiet coordinated action. (8) It may 
appear as part of a spreading area of action in the 
face, (9) in stammering or in full laughter. 

" Corrugation" most often belongs to the class of 
spreading action (9), as indicating a (useless) overflow 
of nerve energy accompanying some mental act ; but 
it may also occur apparently as a spontaneous action (1). 

" Smiling," after a pause occupied in thinking, is 
sometimes the first indication that a reply has been 
arranged in the brain. Grinning, as a uniform re- 
peated spontaneous movement, in the absence of con- 
trollability or the signs of compound cerebration, shows 
marked dulness of brain or deficiency. 1 

" Eye-movements " may show spontaneity, and yet be 
controllable through sight or by the word of direction ; 
they may produce impressions on the brain by muscle 
sense, as those corresponding to number, dimension, or 
size. (See Chapters VII., p. 145 ; IX., pp. 180, 185.) 

Nerve signs are often associated with one another 
in the same child and form points for describing his 
brain status. Their individual value has to some 
extent been determined by working out their co-rela- 
tion with mental dulness and other conditions as re- 
corded in the notes of the cases. Thus: 2 — 

1 References 17, 20, 21, 22. 

2 See " Report on Scientific Study on Children," The Macmillan Com- 
pany, 1895, PP« 7 2 anc * 104- 



CO-RELATIONS OF NERVE SIGNS 59 

Of 715 boys 504 girls with the "weak hand balance," 
40 per cent boys, 35.3 per cent girls, were reported 
as dull or backward. 

Of 550 boys 516 girls with the "nervous hand bal- 
ance" 34.3 per cent boys, 32.9 per cent girls, were 
reported as dull or backward. 

Of 1322 boys 294 girls, with "frontals overacting," 41.4 
per cent boys, and 46.2 per cent girls, were reported 
as dull or backward. 

It is thus seen that these sub-normal nerve signs are 
associated with brain conditions causing mental dul- 
ness, and that, consequently, training ought to be di- 
rected to prevent or remove such in detail. In this 
the class teacher will be guided by observation. (See 
mistakes in arithmetic. Chapter IX., p. 185.) 

Further : these nerve signs, and the signs of the 
general characters of brain action in a child afford a 
basis for the study of physiological psychology ; we 
want to know the process going on in his brain which 
corresponds to mental acts and expression, so that 
observation may guide us in tracing out what occurs 
when using methods of teaching ; and in seeing, where 
difficulties arise, how training may be employed to 
remove them and promote orderly action in thinking 
and learning. (See Chapter VII.) 

The constitution or make of the child, as well as 
his healthiness, depend largely upon his development. 



60 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

Physiognomy, as well as anthropometry, or measure- 
ment of the parts of the body and their comparison, 
tell us much as to the development of the child, whether 
normal or otherwise. When the body is well developed 
there is a great probability of a healthy active brain 
accompanying; the two conditions are corelated, but 
their coexistence in an individual child is not to be 
assumed without observation of the signs of brain ac- 
tion, normal in kind, according to the age of the child. 
Physiognomy depends upon the proportions which 
produce the form of the individual features, and their 
relations in growth; a well-made body with well-pro- 
portioned head and features, generally has a well- 
balanced nerve system and is well nourished and 
healthy. 1 

The head of the infant has been sufficiently described 
in Chapter II. At seven years of age the circumfer- 
ence should have grown to 20 or 21 inches, while 
the average weight of brain has reached to over 40 
ounces ; the weight of the adult brain being 50 ounces 
in males and 45 ounces in females. 

A head of 19 inches in circumference at seven 
years is small; the volume or content of the head is 
a matter of great importance. Most forms of ill- 
shapen heads, as well as other defects in develop- 
ment, are more frequent in boys, but the small head 
is an exception as being far more common in girls, 

1 Reference 42. 



OBSERVING THE FACE 6 1 

who often tend to be delicate, though of average men- 
tal ability. The forehead should neither bulge forward 
nor recede from the vertical plane, the bones should 
be smooth without any ridging or lumpiness ; among 
subnormal conditions, the forehead may be contracted 
and shallow ; each defect has a significance. The 
head is the principal indication of a well-developed 
child; other physiognomical signs vary in value as 
indications of the probable brain status. Further 
points for observation I quote from my article in 
School World? 

The features should be well moulded individually 
and proportioned to one another ; in place of this 
they may be coarse, or, while no one feature is ill- 
formed in its parts, they may be disproportioned, the 
nose small, but the face large and rounded. The 
parts of each feature and their proportions should be 
observed ; in particular the absence of any normal 
part of a feature should be noted — as is so common 
in the ears, where the rim is often deficient. 2 

Looking at the face, observe each feature separately. 
Compare the two sides, looking for symmetry of devel- 
opment. Carry your eyes to each ear in turn ; they 
should be of similar size and form, with the margin 
slightly curved over, and the pleat of the ear (antihelix) 
projecting in front of the rim well developed, causing 
the ear to lie flat against the head in its proper posi- 

1 School World, March, 1899. 2 Reference 23. 



62 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

tion. The pleat of the ear may be absent, or the rim 
may be imperfectly developed, the whole ear being 
large and outstanding ; concave in form and red or 
bluish. This is common among boys, much less fre- 
quent in girls; the defect is not associated with dull 
hearing. 

The nose is seldom quite symmetrical ; its bony 
bridge has no forward growth in infancy, but develops 
out later, say by seven years ; it may remain broad, 
flat, and thick in growth, with tipping of the end of 
the nose upwards, the nostrils perhaps being small. 
Such children are apt to be "mouth breathers/' the 
nasal passages and the mouth may both be small; 
this may lead to acquired causes of deafness. 

The mouth in quiescence should be of good size — 
it is seldom too large ; the common reference to a 
large mouth is due to the frequency of grinning, which 
widens the mouth in action, accompanying brain 
deficiency. A small mouth, though the feature may 
be admired as artistic, is a subnormal condition fre- 
quently associated with a narrow palate and with 
small eye-openings. 

The eye-openings (palpebral fissures). — The open- 
ings between the lids — where the eyeballs are seen 
— should be sufficiently large in proportion to the 
other features, and the axis drawn from the inner to 
the outer angle should be horizontal. These open- 
ings may be narrow or too small, the transverse axis 



CONDITIONS OF DEVELOPMENT 63 

may slope downwards, as in Polynesians and other 
tribes. Small eye-openings, accompanied by a small 
mouth, produce a blank, featureless physiognomy. 

The palate. — If you look at the roof of the mouth 
you see the bony palate ; its size and form are impor- 
tant indications of the developmental constitution of 
the individual, second in importance only to the head 
or cranium. There should be sufficient width or space 
between the teeth, rounded in front, while in the ver- 
tical direction (vertical plane) it is a bowed rather 
than a Gothic arch. The palate may be narrow, or 
contracted laterally, and more or less sharply pointed 
anteriorly, it may also be highly arched or vaulted in 
the vertical plane; each of these deviations in form 
is subnormal. If the palate is narrow, the teeth are 
usually crowded in front : all forms of defect in the 
form of the palate (except when fissured or cleft) are 
consistent with fair speech. 

The growth of the child may be measured by his 
height, and compared with the normal for the age as 
shown in Standard Tables, 1 the weight of the body 
may usefully be added to the description. There 
appears to be a larger proportion of small girls than 
boys ; the same rule applies to children under weight. 

Having described points for your observation of the 
child at school age, it remains that I should indicate 
their bearing on mental and physical hygiene and on 

!See " Study of Children," p. 31. 



64 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

your care and training. We have seen that spontaneity 
of brain action is the great characteristic of early days ; 
this affords a basis for cultivating coordinated action 
under control, thus preparing the young brain for the 
work of childhood and the responsibilities of ado- 
lescence. The child in school becomes an object 
for observation to the student; while the teacher has 
the labour of training the general characters of brain 
action, adapting his methods of instruction to the 
pupil's mental capacities as they are evolved and 
cultivated. 

Healthiness is necessary to spontaneity and mental 
brightness; it must be remembered throughout the 
school life that the brain needs to be nourished during 
its rapid growth and development, as well as later, 
when evolving further faculties and retaining many 
impressions. 

Impressionability is increased by practice ; things 
seen and sounds heard, which do not at first attract 
the attention and produce any apparent impression, 
may do so later on if persistently followed up. Dr. 
G. Shuttleworth 2 says : " A very impassive, imbecile 
child is so inert as not to put up its hands to protect its 
face against a bean-bag thrown at it by the teacher ; 
gradually, however, the instinct of self-preservation 
asserts itself so far as to ward off the missile." 

1 " Mentally-Deficient Children," G. E. Shuttleworth. Lewis and Co., 
London. 



EARLY CONTROL OF CHILD 65 

Control through the senses is cultivated by practice; 
we can make impressions on the child's brain by caus- 
ing him to see, to hear, and to feel. In training, stage 
by stage, we should plan our methods so that the early 
impressions made in the brain are such as will be 
useful at more advanced stages ; this is true economy, 
and will make later teaching easier. It seems to me 
that, as far as possible, early impressions should be 
produced without the use of words, in an arranged 
order on a fixed plan, which can be repeated afterwards ; 
these impressions can be revived and connected with 
names, when terms have been taught. If you wish to 
impress the colours on a child, show them one at a 
time with a slight interval between each ; colour with 
no particular form is best — torn pieces of paper of 
the true colour, not painted toys. The pupil can 
afterwards learn to pronounce the names, " red," " blue," 
" yellow," as he looks at your face ; then couple sight 
with the term ; thus you make impressions by sight, 
then give words, and proceed stage by stage without 
a chance for confusion to occur. As a means towards 
control through the senses, the sense organs them- 
selves need healthy exercise ; town children do not 
get the same opportunities as those in the country for 
seeing distant objects, still they may be made to look 
up a straight street, or at the clouds, the setting sun, 
the moon, and the stars. There is a muscular appa- 
ratus in the eyeball which is exercised by vision at 



66 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

varying distances ; it contracts on looking at near 
objects and relaxes for distance, when the pupil of 
the eye expands also. Soldiers are thus trained to 
estimate distance at sight. Hearing may be trained 
in listening for distant sounds and the notes of the 
birds, while musical sounds and singing may help. 

Impressions by muscle sense call for careful con- 
sideration. While much attention is given in early 
school days to training through the eye and the ear, 
it seems that too little care is bestowed on the value 
of training the brain by impressions produced on it 
through the muscles. This is totally different from 
exercising the muscles for the purpose of making 
them grow big and strong. When, in the drilling 
class, the child performs exercises with the fists closed, 
raising the arms over his head, or again, touches his 
knees, and then quietly straightens his back, the mus- 
cles themselves are brought strongly into action, and 
their strength is increased by such exercises. Drilling 
the muscles promotes their healthy growth, and to 
some extent improves the brain ; it makes the bones 
grow, strengthens the joints, expands the chest, leads 
to expansion of the lungs and fuller breathing power, 
while strengthening the heart. Physical exercises give 
a good carriage and gait to the children, with some 
grace in movement; the muscular activity promotes 
growth of body in girls and boys, if the body is 
healthy. 



MUSCLE SENSE TRAINED 67 

Apart from the physical exercises adapted to cause 
growth in the body, the muscles may be used like the 
sense organs, as the means. of producing impressions 
on the brain which will be of much use subsequently 
in training mental processes. The strain on a muscle 
is felt; place a weight in the hand, it makes a pull 
upon the muscles of the arm which is felt by the child. 
Place in his hand in succession metal weights of one 
ounce, two, four, eiglit ounces, the strain produced by 
each is proportionate to the weights. Ifi + 1 + 1 + 1 
ounces are added to his hand, the addition of weight 
is felt. When it is the degree of muscle strain you 
want to use as a means of brain impression, see that 
the hand is held out free from the desk; it may be 
moved up and down with the fingers open, so that 
the size shall not be felt at the same time by the 
fingers and so make a second kind of impression. In 
this way the child may be made to feel the addition 
of weights or impressions which are proportional, be- 
fore he has any words to use for addition or com- 
parison. If you cause the child to make one movement 
of his hand and drop it, then ten similar movements 
regularly in succession, the impression upon the brain 
centres is greater in the latter case. Control through 
the senses should begin in the first year; in com- 
mencing, such control should be very temporary, as 
the attention is momentarily attracted; still, in the 
"play" of infancy some impressions are produced on 



68 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

the brain, even if not retained. So it is in later evo- 
lution, impressions are produced, but may be transient ; 
training is effected, but its outcome and benefits are 
not seen till a later stage. 

Thus evolution comes about stage by stage; spon- 
taneity at birth is soon accompanied by some impres- 
sionability, and a little later by control in temporary 
inhibition of movement, which soon leads on to action 
coordinated through the senses, and this, when retained, 
brings the child a long way towards mental develop- 
ment. 

Compound brain action implies the establishment of 
nerve paths between various brain centres. The physi- 
ological law appears to be that impressions produced 
in the brain at one and the same time, or in immediate 
succession — so that the two or more brain centres 
are coactive — tend to become connected by nerve 
paths, or are so far united as to be easily brought 
into reactivity in the same order as that in which they 
were produced. Modes of movement imitated in re- 
peated exercises become more exact with practice, till 
they can be reproduced alone without guidance when 
once started ; the nerve centres producing the move- 
ment have grown together. Words heard in a certain 
order — the letters of the alphabet, the numerals, or 
a verse of poetry, are retained as impressions on the 
brain and reproduced in order. Established compound 
brain action gives retentiveness, not only for a word 



FORMATION OF NERVE PATHS 69 

or an act; impressions retained among the nerve 
centres establish arrangements for series of move- 
ments and sequences of acts. Thus your training, 
and all that the child sees and hears, produce impres- 
sions in his brain which may come into action later 
on ; habits are formed, trains of thought are implanted, 
and the child growing up begins to do and think as 
he has been trained and taught. 

Coordinated action controlled in each movement or 
act is brought about through the senses ; if uniformly 
repeated, this tends to establish a mode of action in 
the brain. Hence the importance of exactness in all 
you do in training the child, and the advisability of 
forming an idea of what you want to accomplish. 
Control of the brain centres inhibits their spontaneous 
action, causing them to act in certain new relations 
of time or degree — further; as I have said, there is 
evidence that nerve paths from centre to centre are 
formed the while. Producing coordinated action is a 
delicate process in brain culture ; it should not be long 
continued at one time without allowing intervals for 
the return of some healthy spontaneity. (See further, 
Chapter V., p. 105.) 

Spreading area of brain action seen in facial ex- 
pression often accompanies mental action. Knitting 
the eyebrows may indicate mental stress or confusion ; 
frowning (frontals overacting) as a uniformly repeated 
action when the child is spoken to, or occurring spon- 



70 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

taneously, may indicate weariness, or either too much 
or too little stimulation of the brain. In fatigue and 
weariness, spreading movement is seen in fidgetiness, 
and a tendency to chatter ; which may sometimes be 
met by a change of occupation. 1 Laughter has been 
described as a spreading area of movement; I think 
it may be allowed and employed usefully to remove 
brain impressions when a new line of action is wanted. 
After making an absurd mistake, due to mental con- 
fusion, if the pupil will laugh with you — not you at 
him — his face may grow cheerful as he tries again. 
Spreading movement in the young child is seen in 
his spontaneity and in the signs of happiness. 2 

Response and expression it is always important to 
observe. Response may be similar to the stimulus, 
as in imitation of your movements, or repetition of 
your words ; action similar to yours, as expressed, 
naturally tends to occur in the brain of the pupil, if 
it does not always take place ; that is to say, the same 
centres in the child's brain are stimulated as those 
active in your head in giving the direction. Higher 
forms of response in mental action are due to inter- 
action of the primary impression, or direction, with 
many previous brain impressions implanted by teach- 
ing. You ask where he has been during the holi- 

1 See Muscular Movements in Man, Journal of Mental Science, 1889, 
April, Paragraph 38. 

2 Physical expression. See Illustrations 49-45. 



TRAINING AND BRAIN HEALTH 7 1 

days? Impressions of what he has seen revive to 
activity and are expressed in his reponse. As regards 
verbal response this must necessarily be limited by 
the vocabulary acquired, and the correct association of 
impressions with the terms of expression. Response 
in facial expression is most likely to be true, as when 
the child looks happy and says he knows his lesson, 
though he cannot repeat it. I once had to see a 
boy who went to school, where he looked distressed, 
and gave a message that he was to return home as 
his baby brother was dead. This was totally without 
foundation, he had no brother. This child often had 
illusions and saw what existed only in his brain; he 
soon after became subject to epileptic fits. 

Response may be delayed with too long an interval 
between the question and the answer ; sometimes, how- 
ever, a question is answered several minutes after the 
question ; showing that processes of thought have 
occurred in the interval. 

Training the general characters of brain action is 
a first step in mental hygiene towards developing the 
faculties in the child's brain which are to be acted on 
by your teaching : at the same time evolution of 
healthy action is encouraged and employed which ren- 
ders the brain less liable to nerve storms in the form of 
emotion, nervousness, headaches, and other distressing 
conditions. 1 There is a useless waste of brain power 

1 Reference 27. 



72 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

in the child when endeavours are made to correct and 
arrange thoughts that have only been partially formed 
in the brain ; still, this seems often to be attempted too 
early by the employment of verbal instruction, and neg- 
lecting to train by impressions through the senses and 
by muscle sense. All fundamental impressions, such as 
colours, numbers, proportion, size, and notions of time 
and weight, need to be produced by impressions 
on the brain before comparisons can properly be under- 
stood or expressed. 

Spontaneity should be cultivated, as well as impres- 
sionability and the control of brain action. Control 
and attempts to produce coordinated action must be 
arranged on a fixed plan, that the present training may 
prepare for advancement, and provide those impressions 
in the brain which will be employed in teaching later 
on. The school superintendent who forms a concrete 
idea of the instruction the child should receive in suc- 
ceeding stages of education will analyse the advancing 
stages, and take care to arrange that the preliminary 
training needed is afforded at the right time. Thus 
training should be adapted to afford future capacity for 
learning, while teaching may be carefully arranged to 
exercise and employ the capacities already acquired. 



CHAPTER IV 

Observation, Description, and Classification of 
Children in School 

After giving some general account of childhood and 
the means of study here followed, I proceed to explain 
what may be observed in infancy and early childhood 
as indicative of the general characters of brain activity ; 
each such character may in part be indicated by points 
seen, or nerve signs ; particulars for observation of the 
body, signs of development, health, and growth have 
also been mentioned. 

As you watch children in school you will see many 
kinds of movement which you cannot at once readily 
class as nerve signs, or under the headings of the gen- 
eral Character of brain activity described in Chapter II., 
because to some extent these are arranged in relation to 
the environment. As an aid in rapid observation, you 
will need terms of description simply implying what 
you see before you at the moment, without stopping to 
notice the conditions producing action. 

When you see the eyes move to one corner of the 
room, you may notice the fact without looking for a 
cause indicating it as spontaneous or not. If the feet 
are shifted and make a noise, you can look and see 

73 



fa THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

whether this is part of a spreading area of movement 
passing over the face, the eyes, and also the fingers. 
Should twitching movements of the fingers guiding the 
pen attract your attention, glancing at the child's face, 
you may see ripples about the mouth suggesting 
laughter ; or, on the other hand, twitching of the eye- 
brows, rapid winking of the eyelids, and a flushed 
face, expressive of some excitement or mental confusion 
may be observed. In such cases you may not have 
time to investigate further, and will be obliged to act 
without knowing the origin of what you see. Shrug- 
ging of the shoulders when spoken to, and often re- 
peated, may be a spontaneous movement, or an 
indication of mental status ; still it should be noted. A 
succession of movements in physical exercises may be 
well coordinated in character as seen ; but this may be 
either from imitation of the other children in the class, 
or really due to established brain impressions produced 
by practice. Closed eyelids may mean stopping to 
think, or going to sleep. 

Movements may be classed without reference to their 
cause. Four classes of movements will now be de- 
scribed as apart from the modes of brain action which 
they indicate, and without reference to their causation. 
This will aid our descriptions of children as we see 
them. You must be familiar with what to observe, if 
you wish to know the children and their varying modes 
of brain action as you may learn to see them. Thus : — 



MOVEMENTS CLASSIFIED 75 

i. Uniformly repeated series of movements. 

2. Augmenting or increasing series of movements. 

3. Lessening or diminishing series of movements. 

4. Coordinated or regulated series of movements. 

Each of these modes of movement has been men- 
tioned in describing the general character of brain 
action; examples with reference to what has already 
been said will make you familiar with the points to 
look for, and give them a further significance when 
you recognise them in the children you observe. 

(1) In uniform movements the same parts of the 
body move in the same way over and over again ; 
this is often seen in tricks or habits such as : turn- 
ing the head frequently to the same shoulder ; 
nodding the head, or turning it from side to side in 
speaking; raising the forearm towards the forehead 
as if saluting; protruding the tongue when asked a 
question. Some of the subnormal nerve signs de- 
scribed are uniformly repeated movements, such as : 
horizontal frowning (frontal muscles overacting), re- 
peated knitting of the eyebrows (corrugation), and 
grinning, which is sometimes one sided. Tapping 
with the foot on the floor ; swinging the knee ; drum- 
ming with the fingers on the table; twisting the 
thumbs when unoccupied ; or tearing up a piece of 
paper while talking, — are other examples of uniformly 
repeated movement. Some of these habits indicate 



J6 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

spontaneity with lack of control ; while, inasmuch as 
they are persistent, they show retentiveness, but of 
a low type, and want of coordination in brain action. 
Sometimes they replace spreading movement. 

(2) In an augmenting series of movements fresh 
parts come into action as it spreads, the number of 
parts seen moving increases. Laughter usually begins 
about the mouth and spreads upwards ; but when mak- 
ing observations on children under restraint in schools, 
I have seen the first indications in twitching fingers, 
spreading later to the face. A smiling expression of 
pleasure may, I think, commence in the forehead. A 
quick, jerking set of movements may be seen when a 
nervous child is startled on being suddenly spoken to ; 
the shoulders and arms being jerked so that the 
hands are (involuntarily) pushed forwards, and may 
displace things from the desk ; then the head may be 
turned, the eyes moved every way, and twitching may 
spread from the mouth to the fingers. Spreading 
movement in passion I have sufficiently described 
(Chapter II., p. 44); the same occurs with display of 
most of the emotions, and is seen markedly in joy when 
the child skips with happiness (see Chapter V., p. 96). 
Stammering consists in a spreading spasm, seen in the 
lips, tongue, and forehead. 

(3) A lessening series of movements is seen when 
quietness replaces the natural spontaneity of action in 
many parts of the body before class work, subsiding 



MOVEMENT AND EXPRESSION JJ 

gradually to the attitude of attention; or, at the end 
of the day, as activity decreases, talkativeness lessen- 
ing, expression lessening, and the eyelids closing in 
restfulness and then sleep. An increasing mode of 
movement seen previously in passion, joy, emotion, 
at length gradually subsides to a moderate degree of 
quietness, or it may be to the stillness of exhaustion 
without movement. Well controlled and coordinated 
action (voluntarily) lessens after continued persistence, 
continuing in fewer parts, which may move more 
slowly. Thus : expression may begin to fade from the 
face, the eyes move less frequently to the book, and 
its pages are hardly turned over. The previously 
increasing area of spasm in stammering subsides on 
relaxing effort, leaving the forehead, then the mouth 
and tongue are relaxed to quietness. In the child 
recovering from chorea, the area of movements 
lessens as health improves. 

(4) A coordinated series of movements indicates 
much that we desire to see in the child. Such a 
mode of movement has a special character dependent 
upon the time and degree of each component act. 
When playing a scale of music the fingers are directed 
by the printed exercise, and move in an arranged 
order. You may make similar movements of hands 
and fingers before a class of children, as an exercise 
for their imitation and practice. Coordinated move- 
ments of the hands and fingers are seen in drawing 



yS THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

and writing, and in manipulative work, where each 
movement is prearranged — just as the notes arrange 
the hand movements for the music scale. This is 
practised in sloyd work accurately performed, and in 
the occupations of the Kindergarten. All these con- 
trolled actions in young children are likely to be ac- 
companied by some spontaneity in movement of the 
head, eyes, and fingers, while still the major part of 
the work represents coordinated action. 

Eye-movements are often incoordinated, wandering, 
not exactly directed to what is pointed out, or towards 
what the child is told to look at. 

Facial and mouth movements are coordinated in 
speech with those of the tongue, both when sounds are 
taught and when syllables are formed into articulate 
words; expression in the face is similarly controlled 
by sight in imitation of the teacher. Marching, and 
the exercises of drill show movements of the legs and 
arms coordinated with the action of the muscles of the 
spine. and head. 

It will occur to you that coordinated action is the 
essential feature of good games. In the cricket field 
the boys stand straight and easy ready for the play, 
the bowler ready, and the batsman prepared to hit and 
run. Action in the batsman is coordinated by sight 
of the flying ball, and as he runs by seeing the fields- 
men. The boys who are fielding are regulated in 
action by sight of one another and of the ball. In 



COORDINATED ACTION 79 

earliest infancy we do not see coordinated action, this 
is a later development ; spreading area of movement 
occurs earlier. Coordinated action is opposed to some 
of the subnormal nerve signs described, and forms the 
best means for their removal. 

When speaking of evolution in nature in the next 
chapter it will be shown that modes of growth are 
commonly seen in living things occurring uniformly in 
repetition of parts ; in augmentation or diminution of 
living parts, and also, in action coordinated by the 
environment. This is one indication that the scientific 
principles employed in studying living objects and the 
methods of natural history may be applied to the 
study of action and mind in the child. 1 

Points of several kinds have now been given for use 
in observing and describing a child as you may see 
him in school ; it remains to say something about 
health and nutrition, as well as the examination of the 
senses, which should form a part of your description. 
In Chapter V. I shall more particularly describe the 
processes inferred to occur in the brain of the child 
under observation, showing something of their con- 
nection with indications of mental processes, and the 
abilities and disabilities of children as we find them; 
thus we shall gradually proceed to describe all we can 
of the child as we see him in being. 

1 See " Anatomy of Movement : A Treatise on Action of Nerve-centres 
and Modes of Growth." The Macmillan Company. 



80 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

Speaking generally, the weight and the height, 
with the chest girth, are sufficient indications of good 
growth, and to this may be added some measurements 
of the head. Children may be fat in face, but other- 
wise thin ; this is frequently the case with nervous 
children ; the body may be large and heavy, with low 
nerve-muscular power ; on the other hand, some children 
are thin, but wiry, and really strong. 

Nutrition in the body may be judged by fulness of 
the face and cheeks, or plumpness, and by the muscular 
development of the arms and legs as seen and felt. 
The colour of the face and lips should also be noticed. 
The skin should be both clean and clear from sores 
and abrasions about the angles of the mouth or nose, 
while the hands are free from cracks and chilblains ; 
the nails are also worth inspection ; there should be no 
enlargement of glands under the jaw or in the neck. 

Looking at the eyes, they should be clear and bright, 
as well as free from all discharge; on gently depressing 
the lower lid with your finger, its inner lining is seen 
pale and clean in good health. 

A momentary inspection of the mouth will enable 
you to view the palate and see its form ; the condition 
of the teeth is noteworthy; while the tonsils are seen 
on each side of the throat in front of the soft palate, 
which rises as you make the child say "Ah ! " 

Sight may be tested by using printed test type, which 
should be provided in every school, and kept clean and 



DESCRIPTION OF CHILDREN 8 1 

used in a good light ; test each eye separately for near 
and for distant vision. 

Hearing you may test with your watch, noting the 
distance as measured by a tape at which it is heard 
with each ear. Your voice is a better test, and has 
the advantage that you can make him repeat what you 
say; whispered speech should be heard at twenty-five 
feet. Test each ear separately, and do not let the child 
see your face, or he may read what you say from your 
lips. 

In proceeding to record a description of your ob- 
servations, it is important to arrange the points seen 
as to their kind or significance ; this may conveniently 
begin by describing the body as in the form or chart 
used here. Such description of the child as we see 
him in action, together with an account of his school 
character, renders it possible to discuss the points of 
the case from several positions. 

Many children are described in "The Study of Chil- 
dren and their School Training " ; the form of chart 
here employed I first used in my articles in School 
World. 

A Child Well Developed in Body and Brain: Much 
Spontaneity, but it is under Control 

Age last birthday. 8 years. Name. C (boy) . 

A. Body : development, features, etc. 

. Head. Normal in form and proportions. 



82 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

Face. Good, well-proportioned features ; all of sufficient 
size. 

Ears. Average ; all parts developed. 

Nose. Normal. 

Palate. Sufficiently wide ; good teeth". 

Growth. Height, 48-L inches. Body and limbs well 
proportioned 
B. Nerve signs : postures, movements, action. 

General balance of body. Stands well and straight, full 
of healthy spontaneity, head and eyes turn every- 
where, especially to teacher and the objects on the 
table. 

Expression. Lively, looks pleased and interested. Fore- 
head smooth. 

Orbicularis oculi. Good tone in face about eyes; in- 
creased when he smiles. 

Eye-movements. Turn well to fix on teacher's hand 
when imitating movements. 

Head balance. Held well up. 

Hands. Held out straight in prompt response, the 
fingers move a little. After hands have been kept 
out half a minute the head droops to the right, but is 
quickly erect again when hands are put down. Imita- 
tion of finger movements fairly accurate ; response 
quick. 
Indications of modes of brain action. 

Spontaneity. Up to average for age ; good tone of face, 
and is always ready for action or to make some 
reply. 

Impressionability. Present in a degree indicating that he 
will probably develop good capacity for control through 
his senses and in coordination. 



A HEALTHY CHILD 83 

Inhibition. Is generally quiet during class, and attentive ; 

after work is fresh and full of play and talk. 
Control through senses. Action fairly accurate as con- 
trolled by sight of what he looks at. 

Muscular sense. Can distinguish the weight of seeds ; 
also makes measurement at sight fairly well; counts 
objects accurately. 

Compound cerebration. Not very successful in manipu- 
lation, except under guidance. 

Retentiveness. He evidently remembers some of the 
points he has been taught, and performs his physical 
exercises better than last year. His thoughts do not 
follow in as good order as his movements. 

Coordination. Imitates manual exercise, with fair accu- 
racy as to the fingers moving ; not quite correct in time 
of action. 

Spreading area. No habitually repeated overaction. 
When a little fatigued, his head droops. 

Response delayed. When he answers a question, his reply 
is prompt, whether correct or not ; there is very little 
pause for thinking. His replies come out like reflex 
actions rather than as resulting from a train of thought 
which occupies some interval. 
Physical health and nutrition. Healthy and well. Weight, 

55 lbs., average. 
School report. A very bright but mischievous boy, is liked 

by his schoolmates. Fairly attentive and interested in 

his lessons ; reads well, and answers very promptly. 
Observer's report on child. A well-made healthy child, 

'with good brain activity. The healthy spontaneity of 

childhood is well marked ; this is easily controlled 

through eyes or ears, and resumed in a healthy manner 



84 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

when control is removed. There was no excess of extra 
movement accompanying his action, but as fatigue com- 
menced from the strain of holding out his hands, the head 
began to droop. 

A normal, or healthy, well-made child is known by 
the development and proportioning of his head and 
features, and other points which have been sufficiently 
described to enable you, after some practice, to recog- 
nise any subnormal conditions by their contrast with 
the normal. 

The nerve signs, individually and collectively, indi- 
cate, like the hands of a clock, what is going on in- 
side the child's head; that is to say, the present 
working condition of his brain. They may vary on 
different occasions and under different circumstances, 
just as mental status may vary. 

We must exert our minds in studying the children's 
brains. It is true that the child tends to imitate your 
expression, but your thoughts are not his thoughts, 
the modes of thinking differ; he has not yet acquired 
your mental faculties and experience ; he is childlike, 
and must be observed carefully if you wish to study 
his brain action. Observe him under different circum- 
stances, when he is attentive, and when he is disen- 
gaged and does not see you, in the schoolroom and 
in the playground, so you will be able to recognise 
the general indications of his brain in action, as apart 
from detailed nerve signs seen in class or otherwise. 



NATURE-STUDY AND CHILD-STUDY 85 

In the teacher's mind the best interests of the 
children should stand before his own ; even the 
natural desire for self -culture in the higher branches 
of learning ought not to lead him to spend his time 
to the disadvantage of his class in undue devotion to 
private study, leading to fatigue. I have seen a school- 
master, exhausted by night study when working for 
a B. A. degree, whose pupils in class all imitated the 
signs of his fatigue and lassitude. 

You must train yourselves by constant practice to 
become good observers. Dr. Stanley Hall and other 
leaders in child-study have urged that teachers should 
observe the children after the methods of natural 
history ; to this you add the contents of their minds 
in each case, and thus obtain a fuller knowledge of 
the mental action accompanying what you see and 
hear. The child in mind and body is a part of 
nature's work. 1 

I am here endeavouring to show you what to look 
at and what to look for, as well as to supply the 
means of description. If you will look out for each 
point — and there are plenty of examples in any 
school — you will acquire useful knowledge that will 
enable you to draw rapid inferences, and lead to a 
ripened experience of great value throughout life. 

The methods of study here employed will enable 

1 See author's " Mental Faculty," Chapter I. The Macmillan Com- 
pany. 



86 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

you to give scientific descriptions of your children 
founded on observation, indicating what you really 
see as signs of their happiness, peevishness, fatigue, 
or nervousness. These methods will further enable 
you to grasp a high ideal of the teacher's work, as 
you trace out the modes of brain action indicated by 
the various mental states of the pupils, and learn to 
understand their relations to one another and how to 
deal with them. In your methods of observation and 
study my experience may afford some help ; your 
methods of management in school must be guided by 
your own minds and personal study. 

Pierre Camper (1792) wrote as an artist, and de- 
scribes joy and laughter. He says : "In complacency, 
friendly greetings, and tacit joy, the angles of the 
mouth must never be drawn up alone, without the 
tokens of an incipient smile." He thus refers to the 
gentle spread of movement seen in the face, while 
the increased spreading action in laughter is further 
indicated. "In laughter all the effects produced by 
the former affection are greatly increased, and others 
are superadded. The whole countenance inclines 
forwards, but without the attention being fixed upon 
any determinate object. The muscles around the eye- 
lids are contracted, producing wrinkles and folds around 
the eyes. The lips are opened, and the teeth, particu- 
larly the upper, are made to appear; small wrinkles 
arise at the corners of the mouth and the cheeks become 



ARTISTS DESCRIBE EXPRESSION 8? 

fuller." Sir Charles Bell writes: 1 "I hope my reader 
consents to believe that the capacity of expression is 
bestowed as a boon, a mark of superior intelligence, 
and a source of enjoyment; and that its very nature is 
to excite sympathy; that it radiates, and is understood 
by all; that it is the bond of the human family. . . . 
Observe the conditions of a man convulsed with laugh- 
ter, and consider what are the organs or system of 
parts affected. He draws a full breath, and throws it 
out in interrupted, short, and audible cachinnations ; the 
muscles of his throat, neck, and chest are agitated. He 
holds his sides, and, from the violent agitation, he is 
incapable of a voluntary act." To such expressions 
of joy in the child may be added movements of the 
shoulders, which are drawn up and down, as well as 
opening and closing the fingers and movements of the 
whole body by the feet, accompanied by shouting. You 
thus see much spontaneity, while impressionability is 
only momentary, not producing control, and all artificial 
manner is lost (no compound cerebral action) ; there is 
a wide-spreading area of action and no delay to such 
impressions as the child receives through his senses. 
Movements are anything but uniform, they tend to 
increase, as in all expression of emotion — ultimately 
subsiding and become controlled or coordinated again, 
when the movements are slower with some pauses. 
Irritability and peevishness are generally accompa- 

1 "Anatomy and Philosophy of Expression," third edition, 1844. 



88 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

nied by the signs of fatigue; the natural expression 
of the face is partially lost, there is often fulness under 
the eyes and frowning, with pursing or contraction of 
the mouth, which is the opposite to the expression of 
joyfulness. Such spontaneity as exists is neither con- 
trollable nor capable of inhibition; this is partly shown 
in disjointed utterances. All established manners 
(modes of compound cerebration) are for the time lost, 
while impressions by sight or sound lead to short, 
jerky, spreading movements. A touch on the shoulders 
makes him wriggle ; his head turns away from his 
food ; he makes no response in words to a question 
or inquiry, no normal reactions occur. The child 
should be judged at his best, and not when fatigued 
and irritable. 

Camper, in referring to the descriptions of expression 
by many authors, says, I think justly, that "they have 
usually either confined themselves to appearances or 
have reasoned metaphysically concerning the opera- 
tions of the mind, without attending to the physical 
causes of the changes produced by these operations; 
but in my opinion speculations concerning the manner 
of the soul's working or concerning the seat of the soul 
are of no use to the artist. These belong to meta- 
physicians, who, by the way, lose themselves in a laby- 
rinth of terms, or words with no definite meaning, without 
having in the least explained the action of this immortal 
principle upon the compound and mortal frame." 



CULTURE OF BRAIN ACTION 89 

A careful and detailed study of the points observed 
in cases of brain disorder and in children of mental 
deficiency, in contrast with those well developed, bright, 
and active, enabled me to define the subnormal nerve 
signs described in Chapter III. Thus a number of 
points for observation are presented, each of which 
when seen has some significance. The signs indicating 
brain disorderliness you want to replace by training the 
general characters of good modes of brain action. Thus 
you cultivate the excessive spontaneity of restlessness 
or emotion to become action controlled by guidance, 
and try to replace the spreading activity of fidgetiness 
by organised work, and by games ; the confusion aris- 
ing from seeing, hearing, and feeling at the same time, 
you remove by methodical procedure in looking care- 
fully, attending to what may be felt in handling objects, 
and in hearing distinctly what is said. (Example in 
Chapter VIIL, p. 103.) 

Means are afforded for describing your observations, 
which indicate physical conditions of the body — the 
developmental signs and the nutrition of the body; 
while the state of brain action will afford much in- 
formation as to some causes of mental dulness and the 
directions in which you may most effectively try to 
remove them. It is quite possible, as experience has 
shown, to discriminate in a school the children whose 
brains are disorderly and untrained, by observing them 
without asking the questions necessary for a purely 



90 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

mental examination ; nearly all the dull and backward 
pupils may be thus grouped quickly as needing your 
further attention in training, while those well built, with 
good and healthy brains, are discriminated at the same 
time. Thus for the purposes of school management 
and classification you can obtain records of the chil- 
dren with nervous disturbance or incoordination and 
defective response, as well as those pale, thin, or deli- 
cate. Facts thus accumulated, and inferences drawn 
from them, will afford you a sound experience ; that 
is why you will, I think, find it both interesting and 
useful to study children after the methods of natural 
history. 1 

A Child of Nervous Type 

Age last birthday . 14 years. Name. (girl). 

A. Body : development, features, etc. 

Head. Of good volume and well shaped, circumference, 

21.5 inches. Forehead broad and high. 
Face. Features in good proportion. Eye-openings and 

mouth of sufficient size. 
Ears. Well made in rim and pleat of the ear, alike on 

either side. 
Nose. Normal, breathes with lips closed. 
Palate. Sufficiently wide ; good teeth, not crowded. 
Growth. Height, 60.5 inches (average for age, 60.32 

inches). The body well proportioned, hands and feet 

rather small. 

1 See Reports, References 1, yj, 44. 



A NERVOUS CHILD 9 1 

B. Nerve signs : postures, movements, action. 

General balance of body. Does not stand straight or 
keep quite still. Shoulders not at same level. Feet 
unequally planted. 

Expression. Bright and changeful; a spreading smile 
often seen, and sometimes twitching of the mouth. 

Orbicularis oculi. Want of good tone about the lower eye- 
lids, but this disappears when interested and in smiling. 

Eye-movements. Can fix eyes well, but they often 
wander when not directed. 

Head balance. Head not bent down, but often falls a 
little to one side or is turned about. 

Hands. Held out promptly in response, the left a little 
lower than the right, while neither is on a level with 
the shoulder. Each balances in the "nervous pos- 
ture," especially the left ; this becomes more marked 
if the effort is maintained; there are'twitchings of the 
fingers. This action is accompanied by some bending 
of the lower part of the spine, while the shoulders are 
thrown back. Response is prompt, action is quick 
and well imitated from others, but is often accompanied 
by some extra movements besides those under control. 
Indications of modes of brain action. 

Spontaneity. Fidgets while standing, feet shuffle, fingers 
twitch. The head is often turned about, the eyes 
wander, she smiles frequently, and is active in play. 

Impressionability. Quick to receive all impressions ; 
looks at every one who speaks in the class; is not 
always completely under control. 

Inhibition. While prompt to stand when directed, there 
remains some fidgeting of the hands with the dress 
or hair ; she is never quite still. 



92 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

Control through senses. Good capacity, but sometimes 
listens and looks about instead of seeing the black- 
board or map demonstration. At times starts and 
fidgets when spoken to. 

Muscle sense. Appreciates and compares weights in the 
hands well ; knows coins by feeling them. Estimates 
dimensions better by feeling with the hands than at 
sight. 

Compound cerebration. Physical exercises well per- 
formed; can lead the class without being guided. 
Proceeds systematically to examine and describe a 
flower as previously taught. Generally repeats a lesson 
correctly. 

Retentiveness. Memory really good ; but forgets where 
to find things from not looking to see when putting them 
away ; can retain facts learnt, but does not always use 
them aright. 

Coordination. Imitates hand movements well, but is 
not quite accurate. Such action is often accompanied 
by some extra movements. Speaks well; good at 
games. 

Spreading area. Extra movements with the pen seen 
before writing, while at times the fingers twitch on the 
pen. The head often turns upward while thinking ; or 
is held on one side when speaking, or when the hands 
are held out. She tends to laughter and talkativeness. 
Sometimes there is confusion in replies; facts of 
history are remembered but given in the wrong places. 

Response. Quick both in action and in words ; generally 
without a pause for thinking. 
C. Physical Health and Nutrition. Not pale, but a little thin 

for her stature ; weight, 98 lbs. Average weight for age 



A NERVOUS CHILD 93 

is 100.32 lbs., but the child is a little above the average 
height ; further, she has probably not yet completed her 
growth which last year increased by 1.75 inches as 
against an average of 1.57 for her age, while weight 
increased only 8 lbs. as compared with the average which 
is 9.14 lbs. 

School Report. In disposition affectionate, sometimes 
loses self-control, becoming emotional and passionate. 

Observer's Report on the Child. This girl is well developed 
in head and features, as well as in bodily growth. There 
is a little asymmetry in nerve-muscular action ; some 
tendency to spreading activity in the brain, both for 
movement and thoughts, and as this is not always under 
control we see what are commonly called some signs of 
the nervous type. 

Mental capacity, as is usual with these children, is quick 
and the memory retentive, but expression is not always 
exact. 

She is a little pale and under weight ; general health culture 
together with continued training are needed. Her con- 
dition is hopeful, but she might easily be spoilt, becom- 
ing anaemic and dyspeptic if health is not cared for, or 
neurotic and excitable and hysterical if not properly con- 
trolled during the next two or three years ; while under 
bad hygienic conditions some permanent ill health is 
likely to arise. 



CHAPTER V 

Evolution of the Child and his Brain Power 

The child grows, whether he be trained and edu- 
cated or not; the brain grows with the body, and some 
of the characters of brain action will develop, pro- 
ducing either good, bad, or indifferent work and 
character in the future. The mode of evolution much 
depends upon home life and the care taken in school. 

It is too often supposed that the brain acts well 
or badly, is fatigued, excited, or sleepy, as a whole ; 
thus assuming that all its parts are in the same con- 
dition. Your understanding of the brain in action, 
as inferred from what you see in the child, will be 
greatly aided by constantly bearing in mind that the 
bits of brain — or brain centres, as we call them — 
act more or less separately, as well as in collective 
groups. Thus, the brain, as a whole, may be com- 
pared to a regiment of soldiers on review; each 
man, company, and battalion, has orders to carry 
out; the men in the company act together, their 
united action being directed by the officers, and the 
whole manoeuvre by the colonel of the regiment, who 
receives his orders from the War Department. It is 
essential to remember this separate action of the 

94 



THE CHILDREN OF A FAMILY 95 

brain centres when trying to understand the general 
characters of brain action indicated by your observa- 
tions. The brain is an aggregation of nerve centres, 
much of whose action is expressed by the movements 
they produce and which we see ; while further modes 
of their interaction among the nerve centres may be 
inferred from observation. 

It is now commonly accepted knowledge that some 
kind of evolution occurs in nature, generally to the 
improvement of the race; the same is seen in fami- 
lies, and with the advancement of a child if placed 
under favourable circumstances, so that happily the 
children often attain to a higher physical and mental 
standard of development than their parents. We 
usually see the children in a family bearing a strong 
resemblance to one or other parent in some points; 
at the same time there are often marked differences 
in the characters of the members of the same family, 
with improvement upon their inheritance in some par- 
ticulars. It results, that in a family, as in a school, 
many varieties of children may be seen, differing in type 
of features, in health, and in their brain characteristics. 

Again, the individual child changes much as age 
progresses, and his brain faculties evolve ; character 
is formed under training and guidance, the natural 
tendencies may be developed or in part suppressed, 
and mental character thus improved. 

Physiological terms of description in child-study en- 



96 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

able us to appreciate resemblances and differences; 
mental status may thus be compared and traced in 
evolution from childhood to manhood — sometimes 
with periods of reversion to childishness. 

Does laughter express joy, and crying pain or 
sorrow? We see that laughter indicates a spreading 
mode of brain action ; so does crying, as the emotional 
storm spreads — hence the kinship between laughing 
and crying; the one may pass on to the other in the ex- 
pression of emotion. (See Chapter III., p. 51.) Among 
children too much similarity in manners and in expres- 
sion may result from a limited experience, that is, 
from too little freedom; this dwarfs the evolution of 
individuality. Insufficient control by varied surround- 
ings leads to the formation of but little of the real 
character, which results from many experiences re- 
ceived and retained. Mental evolution is seen in the 
acquisition of knowledge and fixed trains of thought, 
as also in retention of the impressions necessary for 
comparison, and the terms employed in description 
and as aids to memory ; these impressions interact 
in the brain. 

I hope the reader has seen for himself many of the 
facts that may be easily observed in the movements and 
response of the child ; this will prepare the way for a 
ready appreciation of what has here to be explained as 
to the evolution of mental powers, as far as they can be 
traced among the nerve centres of the brain. 



GROWTH AND MOVEMENT 97 

The principles of evolution as the methods of nature 
led me to look for a classification of processes of growth 
that might be arranged in the same manner as for 
movements, and the modes of brain action correspond- 
ing to mental expression ; it seemed probable that all 
modes of evolution would have some resemblances. 

The study of observations in plants and animals 
showed me that there are many points of analogy be- 
tween growth and movement, which throw light upon 
the understanding of each. 1 In child-study you will 
soon be convinced that healthy growth of the head and 
body are usual accompaniments of good brain power 
seen in movement and response. 

These principles of natural history may be applied 
by way of illustration to the description of movements, 
arranged in four classes, as given in Chapter IV. 
Each class of modes in growth among the parts and 
structures of plants as here given has its analogy in the 
classes of movements before described. 

Uniformly repeated growth resembles uniform re- 
peated movement in the order of the events occurring 
with but little variety. Look at a young sprig of ivy 
growing on a smooth wall; leaf after leaf has grown 
similar in shape and in size, each leaf arises at equal 
distances apart ; this looks simple as compared with the 
developmental growth of buds and flowers. Nodding 

1 See Author's " Anatomy of Movement : a Treatise on the Action of 
Nerve-centres and Modes of Growth." The Macmillan Company. 
H 



98 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

the head repeatedly is a simple movement when com- 
pared with writing a letter. 

An increasing number of parts growing is seen in the 
development of a chestnut bud where the inner scales 
grow longer, the axis elongates, leaves are formed, and 
finally a number of flowers are produced. The new 
shoot bearing flowers is a wonderful development from 
the bud, with many new parts ; compared with the ivy 
sprig it is complex, owing to the number of new parts 
that have grown in various forms. A greater amount 
of nourishment is used in the shoot producing leaves 
and flowers than in the twig that grows only a few sim- 
ple leaves. Any increasing amount of movement in 
the child is due to a spreading area of brain action, and 
indicates an expenditure of its force. 

A diminishing number of parts is found in the butter- 
cup flower as time goes on ; the yellow petals fall, then 
the green sepals that enveloped the bud before opening; 
the little stalked stamens fall off, leaving only the parts 
in the centre (carpels) which form the fruit and contain 
the seeds that result as the outcome of flowering ; the 
parts that have been useful disappear and leave the 
perfected fruit. In the child we have seen examples 
of much movement subsiding ; when there has been a 
display of emotion but little effect in the brain remains 
except some fatigue, from the large area or number oi 
parts that have acted. After the performance of a well- 
regulated exercise, the quieter action following is at- 



THE SENSITIVE PLANT 99 

tended by a more perfected organisation in the brain, of 
use in future action. 

Coordinate action is seen in the movements that 
occur in the leaf of the sensitive plant {Mimosa pudica). 
When the plant is in its natural state and in the light 
the leaflets are expanded horizontally ; but after a touch 
they become folded, and at length the main stalk is de- 
pressed, so that the entire leaf falls down. If two leaf- 
lets at the extremity are touched they fold upwards, and 
a similar movement takes place down the stalk to its 
base, and then spreads to adjacent stalks, each succes- 
sive pair of leaflets becoming folded in order. Thus you 
see coordinated series of acts, started by a slight touch 
but passing in a regular order, owing to the structure 
of the leaf in which the cells producing movement 
are specially connected with one another. In darkness 
a similar kind of movement occurs, with the result 
that the leaves are protected from being chilled at 
night. 

You see how modes of growth may be uniformly re- 
peated, they may spread, diminish, or be controlled by 
circumstances, and so become adapted to the environ- 
ment ; this is analogous to what we saw in movement, 
which may indicate brain action recurring in the same 
area, spreading, diminishing, or controlled by sight or 
sound. 

You must ever bear in mind that each movement in 
the child indicates action in a nerve centre ; while a 



100 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

series of movements expresses the action of a group 
or series of centres, so we can trace out the modes of 
brain action and their characters by observing classes 
of movements. 

Further illustrations of this subject I have given in 
my former works 2 with catalogues of a museum de- 
monstrating some of the principles of natural history as 
they may be applied to the study of the brain and the 
body of the child. 

Having spoken of natural history as illustrating the 
principles of evolution, I will give a few illustrations of 
reversion to earlier conditions. Some seedlings of the 
Mimosa pndica> or the sensitive plant, were potted off 
into different earths and sands. Those planted in a 
soil of two parts of decayed vegetable mould to one of 
sand grew more vigorously both in height and foliage 
than the others; and after two months growth they 
were much less sensitive than others planted in two- 
thirds of silver sand and only one-third of leaf mould. 
One or two plants were grown entirely in silver sand. 
These showed extreme sensitiveness to the slightest 
touch ; even a breath of air, or the slightest jerk of 
the pot in which they grew, caused all the foliage to 
shut up. It also appears that the plants may become 
accustomed to a weak stimulus. Thus, Desfontaines 
carried with him a sensitive plant in a coach, the jolt- 
ing of which caused the leaves to close, but ere long the 

1 See Author's " Anatomy of Movement," " Mental Faculty." 



REVERSION TO CHILDISHNESS IOI 

plant became accustomed to the motion and the leaves 
expanded. 1 

Here are facts worth remembering. They may help 
to show you how best to care for the bodies and brains 
of children who are overmobile and sensitive — they 
must be properly fed, and under a wise training they 
may become accustomed to the trials and joltings of 
daily life. 

Reversion to childish modes of action is not uncom- 
mon ; these may be seen in the attitudes and gestures 
of the body, such as hanging the head as if too heavy 
to support, in place of keeping it erect ; bent knees and 
elbows in listless attitude like the position of the limbs 
of the infant (see Chapter II., p. 24), also in the closed 
hands in place of fingers open and ready for action. 
Childish reversion is seen in spontaneity, not impres- 
sionable, but tending to spread, especially when accom- 
panying indications of lowered nutrition. This is 
characteristic of exhausted and nervous children, also 
of those untrained to self-control and regulated habits. 

I have referred very briefly to some facts in natural 
history illustrating principles to be used in studying the 
evolution of brain power, and now proceed to speak of 
changes which appear to take place among the nerve 
centres in the development of mental processes, so that 
you may acquire some understanding as to what occurs 
in the heads of the children. 

1 Balfour, "Class Book of Botany," 1871, p. 496, 



102 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

We have seen that spontaneity may be temporarily 
arrested and then replaced by a new coordinated action ; 
the child when spoken to stops fidgeting, thinks, and 
then does as directed. (See Chapter II., pp. 36, 39.) 
We cannot admit in physiology that this is produced 
by the will or the mind, but must infer that it indicates 
an arrangement among the brain centres, through which 
they become united by nerve paths. The brain centres, 
though they can act separately, may become united by 
the formation of nerve paths between them so as to 
be readily called into coaction, corresponding to mental 
action or its expression ; larger groups may be so con- 
nected as to act in unison, or in a series one after the 
other in an established order (coordinated action). 
Thus the pupil repeats the words of the lesson he has 
learned. The action of a single centre, or of a group 
arranged as a series, may be started by a slight impres- 
sion, — the sight of an object or a gesture, or the sound 
of a word of direction. (See Training, Chapter VII., 

P- 143.) 

Let me refer to the analogy -between the brain 
with its parts or nerve centres, and the regiment of 
soldiers on review. The men have previously been 
drilled in squads, and trained to act together as one 
group ; many such groups move separately when the 
formation of the company changes. The squad cor- 
responds, in our analogy, to a group of nerve cells 
united by nerve paths, resulting from repeatedly act- 



METAPHYSICS AND PSYCHOLOGY 103 

ing together. The command of the colonel commu- 
nicated to the officer of one squad is passed on to 
the rest, or given to each separately, by an aide-de- 
camp, so that two or more squads act together, or 
they may fire alternately. 

Regimental formations may be prepared without 
firing, or a spreading line of fire may be ordered. 
The nerve centres may be arranged by new nerve 
paths, while the child is listening attentively. Ex- 
pression comes later, when he repeats what he has 
been taught. In battle, if panic or loss of the 
officers of the army dissolves the organisation, each 
man acts alone and spontaneously, and disorder or con- 
fusion result. 

The metaphysical side of psychology I must leave 
alone, while directing your attention to evidence ob- 
tained by scientific observation of the facts expres- 
ing the modes of brain action essential to thought 
and its expression. 1 

All expression of mental action is by movement. 
We do not know in what way consciousness and 
mind are connected with the brain and body; still it 
is true that all mental action in one person is ex- 
pressed to another only by some form of movement. 
Thus, we express our thoughts in the movements of 
articulation, in speech, by facial expression and gesture, 

1 References 6, 14; and Journal of Mental Science, London, April, 



104 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

or by the written words produced by movements of 
the fingers as guided by the brain. In each case it 
is the nerve-muscular mechanism that indicates or ex- 
presses the thoughts arising in the mind; it is the 
brain centres, acting on the muscles of the body and 
limbs, that convey to another person the thinkings 
that occur. Movements produced by the muscles are 
thus indices of what goes on among the brain cen- 
tres that produce them; still, the processes of think- 
ing can go on in the brain without being expressed. 1 
The hands of a clock indicate the time as we see 
them move; the clockworks produce the movements, 
and these will go on just as well if the hands are 
removed, only we cannot read the time then ; it is 
the clockworks that keep the time, and the hands 
that express it visibly. We mostly study our clocks 
by observing the movements of the hands, but the 
clockmaker is able to look at and understand the 
works. 

In employing scientific methods for studying men- 
tal action, as it occurs in the brain, we observe move- 
ments and class them as already explained (see 
Chapter IV., 75), and describe them ; then, just as in 
other scientific research, we proceed to draw infer- 
ences from observations, and formulate a working 
hypothesis as to modes of mental action in the 
brain. 

1 See Proceedings of Congress of Education, Chicago. Reference 34. 



NERVE MECHANISM FOR THOUGHT 105 

It is probable that the nerve mechanism for thought 
is the highest set of nerve centres in the brain ; these 
are connected in structure with the lower centres, and 
finally with the muscles that produce the movements 
of the limbs and parts of the body. Thus the nerve- 
muscular system produces action, such as is commonly 
called voluntary. I desire to explain the corelation 
of mental action with other natural processes, and to 
trace out the effects of conditions around the child in so 
far as concerns us in dealing with training and educa- 
tion — not as a means of explaining what mind con- 
sists of, which we do not know. The study of mental 
action in the brain thus becomes a study of physiologi- 
cal processes ; hence, I employ methods similar to those 
used in observing specimens in natural history show- 
ing growth and movement. 1 

We have seen in the evolution of the infant that a 
pause in spontaneous movement after an impression by 
light or sound may be followed by a new coordinated 
act. We infer that during the pause or inhibition of 
movement, the brain centres are united by temporary 
nerve paths, and thus prepared to act in a series pro- 
ducing the action seen. This is the sort of action 
occurring in the brain of the pupil during quiet atten- 
tion, in looking or listening, rather should I say the 
period of orderly preparation of nerve cells by the light 
or sound. (See Chapter III., p. 69.) 

1 References 5, 14; Journal of Mental Science, April, 1889. 



106 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

In training the pupil to imitate your pronunciation of 
a word you make him look at you ; the child then 
makes movements similar to those of your lips and 
face. 

We infer that, as the result of the impression by sight, 
the same centres that are active with you are acting in 
his brain. Further, after repeating the word a few 
times, if the child can say it without guidance, we infer 
that the brain centres for that word have become con- 
nected by nerve paths, so that the syllables are pro- 
nounced and the impression in the brain is retained. 
Analogous brain organisation is built up by physical 
exercises in imitation of the teacher, thus making the 
brain grow apt for connected mental action. In such 
training, action becomes more exact by practice, then 
quicker ; finally it can be produced by the child without 
your guidance, simply on directing the pupil to do so. 
We do not see this coordination or brain evolution in 
the very young infant, in the imbecile, or in the sick 
child. 1 

From the study of numerous observations and infer- 
ences drawn from many and varied facts, I was led to 
conclude that a thought, or mental act as it occurs in 
the brain, is there represented by the activity of a cer- 
tain group of nerve cells (diatactic union) 2 — the brain 
centres forming the group acting in a definite order as 

1 References 29, 52. 

2 See " Mental Faculty," Chapter III. 



NERVE PATHS IN THE BRAIN 107 

determined by the nerve paths formed between them by 
sensory impressions. 

It is here suggested that a mental act is due to the 
function of certain brain cells, temporarily connected 
for the action ; on another occasion different arrange- 
ments may be formed among the same nerve cells, and 
a different kind of mental act result. Thus the brain 
cells become temporarily connected by nerve paths, lead- 
ing from one to another, which are formed by impres- 
sions received in the brain through the senses and by 
muscle sense (see Chapter II., 37). The arrangement 
of the brain cells (diatactic action) for this kind of 
concerted action occurs during the " pause " or period 
of inhibition of movements, to which I have often re- 
ferred, as corresponding to attention or the period of 
thinking. Training as described in Chapter VII. makes 
the brain centres apt for this kind of action. 

In illustration* let me again refer to the analogy of 
brain action and the organisation in an army. In order 
to achieve a certain object the colonel orders a com- 
pany of men to make a particular movement in concert ; 
on another occasion the same men may be arranged in 
different divisions to execute a further purpose. 

In a city possessed of a good telephonic system, 
six merchants may be placed in communication by 
an arrangement of the electrical wires; at another 
time five bankers may consult and act together, if 
the arrangement of the wires is adapted by the 



108 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

superintendent of telephones who receives an order 
to do so. The city is then roughly analogous to the 
brain. The telephones represent brain centres, the 
order given to the superintendent corresponds to sen- 
sory impressions. These orders result in certain tele- 
phones being temporarily connected by electrical wires 
which bring them into communication ; these wires 
are analogous to the nerve paths formed between the 
brain centres. The nerve centres, by the formation 
of nerve paths, are prepared to act in unison and in 
harmony with the impression that controls them. 

In considering mental acts as represented by the 
corresponding physiological action of brain centres, 
we study what may be inferred to occur in the 
brain from visible expression in the child. Coordi- 
nated movement indicates nerve centres acting in a 
certain order under control; if this is repeated with- 
out help or guidance, we infer that training has 
already established some new nerve paths in the brain. 

It was desirable in Chapter III. to describe the 
general characters of brain actions separately; these, 
however, often occur together in varying degree un- 
der different circumstances, and thus become com- 
ponents of a mode of brain action as seen in a 
child ; a few examples will illustrate this. 

Impressionability of the brain is shown in various 
ways, sometimes by arresting action, or in a higher 
form by guiding it. 



BOYS IN THE PLAYGROUND 109 

Impressionability to the sound of the school bell 
is seen together with coordinated action, as the boys 
put their tops into their pockets and run indoors. 
Some of the boys, however, look up to see if the 
master is coming, and then go on with their play; 
here the first impression is followed by action, while 
the second impression removes the stimulus of the 
first. Other boys get off to a corner of the play- 
ground where they may not be seen. This is a kind 
of coordinated action that should not take place. 
Some children simply stand still and do nothing 
when they hear the bell; the impression produces 
inhibition only. A deaf boy continues to spin his 
top as before; he does not hear the bell. One boy 
makes grimaces, stamps on the ground, throws down 
his top, picks it up again, drops it into his pocket, 
and finally goes into school ; the impression by sound 
leads to extra movements with a spreading area of 
brain activity followed by coordinated action. 

Inhibition of movements may occur with or without 
attention. A pupil is looking all over the room, both 
his hands and fingers moving also. Teacher says, 
" Look at this flower as I show its parts, and name 
them." His eyes are fixed on the specimen and his 
movements stop, there is inhibition of movement for 
the time; we infer that his brain action was arrested 
only as to movement and not for mental process, 
because he can subsequently repeat the names of the 



IIO THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

■ 
parts of the flower as taught; inhibition of move- 
ment accompanied an act of attention. Another 
child, when told to look at the specimen, looks at 
the teacher only, and keeps still; afterwards he can 
give no answer. His impressionability is shown by 
inhibition of spontaneous movements, but his brain 
centres were not controlled by the teaching given, 
and no mental action follows. Another pupil when 
told to examine a flower looks at it quietly for a 
moment, thinking what to do, then separates and 
arranges its parts. Temporary inhibition leads to co- 
ordinated action. 

The pupil, if sufficiently educated, when he has 
arranged his specimen on a card, will proceed to 
write the names of each part and compare them. 
This shows quiet coordinated action with retentive- 
ness of names and their association with objects ; 
sight of his specimen leads to mental comparisons 
and description. 

Co'drdinated action produced through the senses in 
training a child possessed of the faculty of memory 
or retentiveness leads to the establishment of the 
nerve arrangements in his brain for many modes of 
complex action. Practice makes him more apt in per- 
forming difficult exercises, whether they be in move- 
ment or mental in character. 

A child hears his father's footstep and runs to 
meet him, smiling, gesticulating, and making glad 



COORDINATION IN GAMES III 

sounds ; this shows coordinated action with extra 
movements. Another man's footstep does not pro- 
duce the same result ; we infer that the child knows 
the sound of his father's walk : on many previous 
occasions that particular sound has been heard, and 
such impressions have been retained. Our know- 
ledge enables us to infer that this particular sound 
has produced nerve paths in his brain, associating it 
with many previous impressions. Vocal impressions 
may produce analogous results. It is seen in this 
example that extra movements may accompany co- 
ordinated action ; usually, however, coordination ne- 
cessitates some diminution of spontaneity. Thus, a 
young child out for a walk in the fields runs here 
and there, shouts, and moves his arms much, occasion- 
ally stopping at sight of a flower to pick it. When 
you call him, he is quieter and runs to you. 

Inhibition, coordinated action, and retentiveness are 
cultivated by practice. In the cricket field the boys 
stand straight and motionless, ready for fielding ; the 
bowler, ready with his ball ; the batsman, prepared 
to hit and run. Action in the batsman is regulated 
by sight of the flying ball, and as he runs, by the 
men fielding. The fielders are controlled in action 
by the sight of one another, and of the ball. Good 
play is only gained by practice. 

Compound brain action, or preparation to perform a 
certain set of actions one after another in due order, 



112 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

is only evolved gradually after much training; cul- 
ture in various kinds of coordinated action at length 
renders the brain apt for such acquired functions. 
As an illustration, give the child two beans, telling 
him to measure and compare them. He takes one 
and holds it lengthways between his finger and 
thumb, looking at it from end to end. Then he 
holds it flatways and looks at its breadth ; finally he 
holds it from side to side. Again, he takes two 
beans, one between the finger and thumb of either 
hand, then places them across one another and looks 
at them. At last he says, the bean is longer than it 
is broad, and the breadth greater than the thickness. 
Impressions derived from previous teaching arise to 
activity in his brain in due order, they interact on 
one another, leading to expression in action and words. 
As an illustration of more advanced mental power 
and memory, dependent on retentiveness of modes of 
compound brain action, let me give you one more 
example : A boy is told to draw a map of the 
United States; he proceeds quietly to rule on the 
paper the lines of latitude and longitude; then draws 
in the boundary lines, the rivers, and marks the 
towns, writing in their names. As you watch him 
you see a long series of complex movements of his 
hand and fingers, which result in a sketch of the 
map asked for. The boy's brain has been trained to 
receive impressions and retain them in order, with 



BRAIN RETENTIVENESS AND MEMORY 1 13 

nerve paths among the groups of nerve cells, — analo- 
gous to the wires between the telephones, — so that 
when directed to draw the map he proceeds to do so 
from memory. 

Retentiveness of brain impressions and their asso- 
ciation gives the power of memory as the mental 
faculties are evolved. A child who cuts his finger 
with a knife feels the pain, he sees the blood and 
the knife ; another time he avoids the knife. The 
boy bitten by a dog is afterwards frightened at the 
sight of a dog. A child who has been run over and 
hurt shows signs of fear when crossing a crowded 
road as long as the brain impression produced by 
the accident remains. Thus in the progress of life 
a child learns and retains much from his experience. 

Compound brain action is a most interesting process 
in the evolution of the child (see Chapter II., p. 39). 
When he does as you tell him and repeats a lesson 
from memory it is possible to trace what occurs ; the 
centres corresponding to each word having been im- 
pressed previously in a certain order, we infer that 
they have been connected by nerve paths, and are 
reactive in expression one after another. The lesson 
may have been learned and then forgotten, or the im- 
press of a word here and there in the series may 
have faded ; if you supply this, he goes on again to the 
end. Of course, this process as described is merely 
repetition without any added brain action for thought. 



114 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

I have spoken of impressions in the brain corre- 
sponding to movements and words ; it is generally ac- 
cepted that words may correspond to (or be coupled 
with) thoughts, while the thoughts are expressed by 
words. 

Words are produced in writing or speaking by fine 
and coordinated movements of the fingers, or the 
mouth and tongue, etc. Like all other movements, 
speech can be taught ; the impression of a sound on 
a child's brain may form a centre for the word 
among the nerve cells and a meaning may afterwards 
grow up around it. You may teach the word, give 
an impression, and couple the word and sensory im- 
pression. You may teach the word "heavy," then 
produce tension on the muscles of the hand by 
weights, and, again, couple the term " heavy " with 
the feeling of weight. 

I believe that a thought corresponds in the brain 
to the formation of a group of nerve cells by nerve 
paths proceeding between them, thus constructing a 
new nerve centre out of, or among, existing nerve 
cells. In analogy to the army, it is as though the 
healthy, active soldiers of the regiment were stand- 
ing at ease ; the command of the officer of the first 
squad calls them to attention ; it inhibits their talk- 
ing and laughing, they make their proper formation ; 
they are now ready to act in unison, to make a new 
formation, or respond to command. The word of 



METHODICAL TRAINING 115 

command controls them ; they may remain quiescent 
or express their force in firing (see Voluntary Action, 
Chapter X., p. 199). 

Order and method in training and teaching aids evo- 
lution of the brain in the child ; disconnected teaching 
and verbal instruction without previous preparation 
leads to mental confusion and weakness. It is not in 
accordance with good method to teach addition till the 
child can count objects, or proportion before he can 
appreciate the relative degree of his impressions. Com- 
parison cannot be made without separation or abstraction 
of the impressions to be contrasted from the mass of 
impressions received; and this mental process is ac- 
quired only after methodical training. The pupil who 
has examined peas and beans must learn to separate 
his impressions of weight from those of colour, or of 
dimensions, before making comparisons and giving de- 
scriptions. He will then be able to compare the peas 
and beans as to their colour and their weight respec- 
tively ; while he may proceed to compare the dimen- 
sions of the bean. 

The child grows and the brain grows during school 
days, so that nearly the full weight of brain is attained 
by twenty years of age. The brain organisation and 
condition need training during this period; if educa- 
tion be neglected, as the bulk of brain increases some 
parts are left incoordinated and too ready for the dis- 
play of nerve storms, emotion, and hysteria. 



Il6 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

It is true that the surroundings of nature in the coun- 
try, and occupations in social life without artificial edu- 
cation for the children, may produce fair mental ability; 
but this is at least leaving much to chance circum- 
stances. To let the child's brain grow without bringing 
it under control is analogous to enlisting a number of 
men untrained in military discipline, then calling them 
an army, and expecting them to confront the dangers 
of battle with success. 



CHAPTER VI 
Physical Care of the Child ; Hygiene and Feeding 

A body healthy in its organs and parts, including, of 
course, the brain, is essential to the healthiness of the 
life of the child, and requires constant thoughtful atten- 
tion at each stage and in the daily hours of education. 
It may be convenient to speak of bodily health and 
brain healthiness separately; but they do not stand 
apart, each reacts on the other. The brain is depend- 
ent upon the body and its organs for a good supply of 
nourishing, pure blood ; the brain acts upon all parts of 
the body, the heart and the organs of breathing and 
of digestion. 

Thus delicate children need brain training adapted to 
their individualities, not only that they may have well- 
formed and balanced minds, but also, in order that the 
brain may be cultivated as far as possible, to act regu- 
larly in controlling the bodily health. 1 Loafing is not 
good for either brain or body ; untrained emotional dis- 
turbance upsets digestion ; habitual slowness of action 
leaves the circulation sluggish ; mental excitement dis- 
turbs many of the organs. The training of a delicate 

1 References 27, 28. 
117 



Il8 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

child should not be neglected, but adapted to the special 
requirements of the case. 

Let me explain a general principle in physiology as 
to the control exercised by the organs of the body upon 
one another. Physical exercise quickens the heart's 
action, thus increasing the circulation in the brain and 
promoting its healthy activity. The sudden call to re- 
peat a lesson in class may excite the brain and produce 
such disturbed action of the heart as to quicken the 
pulse beats and interfere with the brain circulation, 
leading to mental confusion. Again, words of reproof 
from the teacher may produce a state of mental excite- 
ment, while this brain disturbance (spreading action) 
excites the heart and so disturbs the circulation ; then 
sleeplessness at night may follow. The heart acts on 
the brain, and the brain reacts upon the working of the 
heart. 

It is said the healthy body helps to make a 
healthy brain ; it is also true that a well-regulated 
brain helps to keep the rest of the body in good 
health. \ Healthy lungs and good breathing afford a 
supply of pure blood to the brain. \ Emotion and ex- 
citement disturb breathing ; the movements of the 
chest become quick but shallow, and the circulation 
is impeded ; careful training may render the child 
less emotional, and less liable to this cause of brain 
disturbance. Food and a good digestion are neces- 
sary to produce a proper quality of the blood ; regu- 



THE BRAIN AND DIGESTION Iig 

lated control of the brain promotes good digestion. 
Where you have seen that the child's school work 
is unsatisfactory as the result of some form of indi- 
gestion, it is useful to remember that good digestion 
is promoted by a proper mental control of the brain, 
regulated in all good habits. Nervous dyspepsia, as 
it is often called, may sometimes be prevented or re- 
moved by regulation of the occupations and the work 
of the day, together with punctuality as to the hours 
of sleep. 

These facts are true ; they may seem paradoxical ; I 
speak of them here because I think you should un- 
derstand every side of this question in all instances, 
as bearing on the responsible care of the child's well- 
being in every aspect of the case. 

The child may be cross and peevish as the result 
of illness, or want of food and rest. He may be 
out of health with low power of digestion and want 
of proper sleep, resulting from lack of occupation 
and interests, together with habits of getting what- 
ever he wants and eating whatever he fancies ; such 
bad training necessarily leads to ill health and peevish- 
ness. 

When a child is fidgety and shows signs of fatigue, 
it is desirable to try and find out the true cause. 
Weariness from real work may thus lead to fidgeti- 
ness ; on the other hand, exhaustion may result from 
spontaneous, or self-originated, uncontrolled, thinking 



120 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

and imagining, such as is not uncommon among 
lonely children at home. In some cases this cause 
of weariness and fatigue may be removed by wisely 
regulated school training and occupation in system- 
atic habits of work. The child will not eat his meals, 
is talkative, and looks at everything but his food ; 
showing overmobility and the signs of nervousness, 
while lacking in healthy strength and energy through 
insufficient nourishment. When possible make him 
eat, even if his dinner occupies an hour of your 
time. Some children do not go to bed at their 
proper time, because they do not sleep ; that is bad 
management, and often the child is too tired to sleep 
well the next night. 

Thus, conditions of the body act on the brain, 
and the brain reacts on the general healthiness and 
nutrition of the child. The points here touched upon 
are sometimes neglected, thus leading to confusion in 
management; while in some instances the child is 
expected to correct his own faults, although he has 
not been controlled by those whose duty it is to train 
him and to try to understand his difficulties and his 
character. The care of the child's body is our busi- 
ness ; he needs at first to be trained by what is done for 
him, and taught good habits, — eating properly what is 
given to him, keeping his hands clean, changing boots 
when wet, and many other necessary habits in personal 
hygiene which he can learn to do for himself. Except 



CLOTHING AND DRESS 121 

in such duties and habits, the less the child is con- 
scious of his own body the better, especially as to 
pains, appetite, irritability of the skin and throat, or 
dress, etc. ; what he sees and hears should occupy his 
attention rather than his own sensations. 

Clothing should be adapted so as not to interfere 
with free movements of the limbs and the chest, 
avoiding either a collar that rubs the neck, or a 
band that constricts the waist; Woollen garments next 
to the skin are much to be preferred, and help to 
prevent catarrhs in winter; it is equally important 
that they should be made high at the neck, with the 
object of keeping a uniform layer of air around the 
body and limbs. Boots should allow movements of 
the toes, which if unconfined tend to healthy spon- 
taneous movements such as are seen in the infant, 
but too little in the feet of adults; care should also 
be taken that boots do not press on the instep, which 
may lead to " flat foot " and loss of all gracefulness 
in walking, and even lameness in after years. Dress, 
while suited to the family of which the child is a 
member, should not be such as to attract the atten- 
tion of the child or of others. Perhaps a school cap 
or badge helps to promote a feeling of comradeship 
as belonging to a corporate body, whose honour must 
be maintained by proper conduct outside the school. 
Dress may be well arranged without being costly, 
and should be adapted to its uses; while boys, in 



122 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

particular, need to be encouraged to keep their 
clothes clean. 

One important consideration in school management 
must be a time table, and a plan of the day's oc- 
cupations, arranged for each class to some extent 
according to the ages of the pupils. We have to 
keep the child growing in body and brain by feed- 
ing and culture; work, play, and sleep have to 
be arranged for, and fill up a large portion of 
the curriculum, each item of which bears on the 
others. Sleep concerns the health of both body and 
brain. Sleeping rooms should be well aired during 
the day, and ventilated at night by a partially 
opened window ; a night passed in a close atmos- 
phere poisons the lungs and the brain, becoming a 
fertile source of fatigue, headaches, ill health, and 
anaemia. (See Chapter I., p. 5.) Dark blinds aid sleep ; 
the drawing up of these in the morning is a better 
manner of awakening the child than knocking at the 
door or calling him ; light gradually recalls the brain 
to its daily activities. 

As you look at a child in sleep, while as yet there is 
no light shining on him, and no sounds impressing 
hearing, the body is motionless except for the move- 
ments of breathing. The brain centres are quietly and 
uniformly nourished by the blood circulating among 
them. As sounds begin in the house some movements 
may occur during sleep, showing that some nerve 



SLEEP AND AWAKING 1 23 

centres are being stimulated. When light is admitted 
at the window, the eyelids are first screwed together, 
then opened ; stretching movements are seen, the limbs 
are moved, the child sits up and begins to talk ; the 
whole brain is now awake and ready for the activities 
of the day. A gradual method of arousing from sleep 
is better than a sudden noise ; the brain should be al- 
lowed a few minutes for recovering its full activity and 
for restoration of the full circulation of blood which this 
necessitates. With children who are at all delicate the 
process of arousing should be gradual, let the child sit 
up in bed and get fully awake before jumping out; to 
startle a child on awaking sometimes does harm. A 
cold bath assures full wakefulness ; it helps to stimulate 
the breathing and establish a good circulation. 

It is hardly possible to say how many hours sleep an 
individual child requires, but the method of sleeping 
should be looked to. Means should be taken to ascer- 
tain whether the child soon falls asleep ; cold feet delay 
rest, a bed too warmly clothed may lead to restlessness, 
thinking and imagining may keep off sleep. For the 
habitually bad sleeper a glass of milk and a biscuit may 
be provided. 

The following table drawn up by Dr. Clement Dukes 1 
expresses his experience as to the amount of sleep re- 
quired by children : — 

1 " Remedies of the Needless Injury to Children." Messrs. Rivington, 
London. 



124 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

As Work and Sleep. should be allotted 



Age. 



Hours of Work 
per Week. 



Hours of Sleep 
per Night. 



Children between 5-6 


u a 


6-7 


a a 


7-8 


a tt 


8-9 


Pupils between 


8-10 


it a 


IO-II 


tt a 


11-12 


tt tt 


12-14 


tt a 


14-15 


tt tt 


15-17 


a tt 


17-19 



9 
12 

IS 

20 

25 
30 
35 
40 

45 
50 



13* 
13 

12 

II| 

II 

10 

9\ 
9 



This includes time devoted to study and chapel on Sun- 
day ; some will think the hours of work rather long. 

In the boarding school the arrangement of dormi- 
tories demands attention. Cubicles are favoured by 
many as a proper arrangement; this plan, however, 
presents grave objections. As to the desirability of par- 
tial isolation as a means of providing some privacy, any 
schoolmaster or mistress can form an opinion ; but there 
are distinct sanitary disadvantages which must follow 
such a system. No fair circulation of air can occur 
around the bed, while draughts are not prevented. 
Wooden partitions cause further difficulty as to keeping 
the floor clean in a limited space. A bath should be 
used daily cold in summer, tepid in winter; when this is 
impracticable, at least the body should be washed. 



HEALTH OF EYES AND SIGHT 125 

Besides attention to toilet, and cleaning the teeth, 
the eyes, ears, and nose, the child should be trained to 
take a few deep breaths on rising in the morning ; full 
expansion of the chest helps to restore a quicker circu- 
lation in the brain, which is lowered during the hours 
of sleep. 

Healthiness of the eyes must be cared for, in the 
first place, by keeping them clean and bathing with 
water in washing; all discharge from the lids or 
soreness of the margins specially require care in 
this matter. Any discharge from the eyes seen in 
school should not be removed with the pocket hand- 
kerchief, but with a piece of lint or cotton wool, 
which should afterwards be burnt. 1 Practice in dis- 
tant vision is useful, especially for children in towns ; 
this relaxes the muscular apparatus inside the eye- 
ball, and gives the eyes healthy exercise. Let the 
child look up the street, watch a horse till out of 
sight, look at distant spires or tall buildings, or up 
to the sky and see the clouds or the sunset glows. 
In the country the flight of birds, distant hedges 
and trees, or the course of the river may be fol- 
lowed, while the stars are seen at night. Among 
objects to look at let me mention the good effects of 
casts of statuary, busts, and full figures which should 
adorn the schoolhouse as well as the college. Pic- 

1 See " Study of Children," Chapter XII., on Health Management in 
School. 



126 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

tures and wall drawings give colour as well as form; 
with large figure photographs the eyes in following 
the lines of the face and the features receive train- 
ing of real value ; things of beauty train the sight 
as well as the taste. 

Small-typed books, especially stories badly printed 
on cheap paper, tend to hurt the eyes by producing 
very indistinct impressions. The book should be held 
steady in reading, and the body quiet ; do not let 
the child read in a rocking chair at home. 

In school there should be plenty of light to each 
desk; indirect sunlight is best, and where possible 
the light should fall from a window on the left-hand 
side so as not to throw a shadow of the pen on the 
letters written. At night a shaded lamp is prefer- 
able to a candle, but the rest of the room should 
not be left in darkness. The eyes should not feel 
fatigued with reading; the child ought not to be 
directly conscious of his eyes, any more than of his 
hands and stomach ; muscular and even brain fatigue 
in moderate degree may be healthy, but eye fatigue 
means something wrong. 

The schoolroom as a place of education should be 
adapted to the purposes of child growth and brain 
culture under healthful conditions, among which light, 
air, and cleanliness are primary necessities. Of lighting 
I have already spoken ; let me add, the windows should 
be cleaned every week. The air of the room needs 



OXYGEN AND THE BRAIN 127 

to be changed frequently; organic matter breathed 
out from the lungs is highly poisonous, this becomes 
diffused through the room so that the whole atmos- 
phere needs to be changed frequently by partially 
opening the windows, which should be thrown widely 
open during the intervals of school work. Lamps and 
the fire help to consume the oxygen in the room, but 
•it is the human lungs that mostly vitiate the atmosphere 
and render it harmful to the body and the brain. 

A healthy condition of the blood demands proper 
feeding and digestion, while for its purity fresh air 
and oxygen are needed in abundance. 

Oxygen is necessary to almost all forms of living 
things ; even the lowest forms of animal life, such as 
amoebae, lose their activity and life when deprived of 
oxygen. Brain cells and other tissues of the body 
are as sensitive as these amoebae ; the energy they dis- 
play depends upon temporary storage of oxygen, which 
when again set free produces force. Oxygen is also 
stored in the blood in the tissues and in the muscles ; 
the red substance of the blood (haemoglobin) readily 
absorbs oxygen in the lungs, while the circulation of 
the blood carries it to the brain, the muscles, and all 
parts of the body; in so doing it aids processes of 
digestion and assimilation. Pure air containing oxy- 
gen, as it passes over the surface of the body and 
through the nose, promotes health ; hence the impor- 
tance of a clean skin. Plants kept in rooms need to 



128 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

have their leaves washed that they may absorb gases 
from the air. The atmosphere of a room may become 
poisonous, not only from the amount of oxygen which 
is being consumed or used up, but also from the accu- 
mulation of waste materials thrown off by the breath, 
which when re-breathed from the air poison the blood 
and the brain. 

As to the temperature of the room Dr. Burnham 1 
says : " In this country [America] it seems necessary to 
have the temperature of the schoolroom nearly 70 F. 
It should never exceed this ; and with adequate ventila- 
tion may be less." I have often found schoolrooms 
too hot and enervating when above 62 F. Plants 
grown at too high a temperature become delicate ; with 
insufficient light and air they become ill proportioned, 
long in the stem, with small, pale leaves ; they produce 
flowers, but the plant loses stamina, and the power of 
resisting adverse circumstances is lessened. Let the 
pupils see plants growing healthily in the schoolroom, 
kept clean, watered, placed in the light, and well aired 
daily. Thus the children may learn something of 
practical hygiene, as they see how we keep plants 
growing and healthy. 

Much has been written as to the construction of 
the best form of school-desks. When these are provided, 
it remains for the class teacher to see that they are 
properly used by the pupils. 

1 Pedagogical Seminary, June, 1892, p. 31. 



SCHOOL DESKS AND WRITING 129 

The following practical directions are given by Mr. 
Priestley Smith i 1 — 

"The pupil must have a comfortable seat with a 
support for the lower part of his back. He must 
work at a sloping desk, not a flat table. He must be 
so placed that there is plenty of light upon his work, 
and that he is not dazzled by light in his eyes. His 
books must be printed in good, large, clear type, so 
that he may be able to read them without the slightest 
difficulty at the proper distance. He must be accus- 
tomed to read with the book propped well up in front 
of him, so that he may not need to stoop over it. He 
must be taught to write sitting square to the desk and 
upright, not twisted to one side and bending over it. 
These things must be attended to at home as well as 
at school." 

If the pupil is allowed to place the copy book on 
which he is writing a few inches to the right of the 
medium plane of his body, the head is turned to the 
right, the left shoulder is raised, while the right sinks, 
and the spine is bent to the left. The body becomes 
fatigued with this strain and the right eye is brought 
nearer to the paper than the left; this helps to de- 
velop unequal sight in the two eyes, and short sight, 
which may be avoided by a good position. For this 
reason the written lines should not be too long ; while 

1 " Eyesight and How We Lose It." Hamilton, Adams & Co., London. 

K 



130 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

to carry into effect a good position in writing the 
"vertical script" has been introduced. 1 

The objects to be gained by physical training are 
admirably described by Dr. Edward H. Hartwell; 2 he 
says : " Speaking broadly, the muscular and nervous 
tissues, well termed the ' master tissues,' constitute the 
executive or working mechanism of the body; and the 
chief function of all the other tissues of the body is to 
serve either as their purveyors or scavengers. The 
structural integrity and functional power of the pur- 
veyor and scavenger tissues are indirectly promoted by 
muscular activity; but the most important effects of 
muscular exercise are, (i) the attainment or mainten- 
ance of normal size and strength by the master tissues, 
and, (2) the acquirement of correct and economical 
habits of neuro-muscular action. The ends of physical 
training, then, are hygienic on the one hand, and educa- 
tional on the other. No comprehensive system of phys- 
ical training can be considered safe or rational in 
which these ends are not clearly recognised and intelli- 
gently provided for — through the adaption of its exer- 
cises to the varied and varying wants and requirements 
of the individuals to be trained, in respect to their sex, 
age, strength, mental capacity, and calling in life. The 
results which should be secured by such a system are 
briefly these : erect and graceful carriage of the head 

1 See Dr. Burnham, op. cit. 
2 Boston Medical and Surgical Journal, December, 1891. 



DIETARY AND SCHOOL MEALS 131 

and trunk; a broad and capacious chest in which the 
heart and the lungs, developed to their normal size and 
strength, shall have free, full, and regular play ; square 
shoulders; a straight back; fully developed and well- 
rounded limbs, and the power to execute with ease, 
precision, and economy exercises of strength, speed, and 
skill in ordinary gymnastic and athletic feats." 

Physical exercises designed to train brain action and 
evolve its mental powers I have sufficiently dealt with 
in other chapters (Chapter VII., p. 145). 

The desideratum of physical culture for girls and 
boys is to attain the highest degree of healthy growth 
and development of brain and body that may be possi- 
ble during the period of school life. 

It is impossible to carry out such an ideal without 
attention to diet and the proper arrangement of meals. 
The dietary needed will be much the same in the school 
and in the family ; school meals form a not unimpor- 
tant part of the duties and responsibilities of the man- 
agement, and of the members of the teaching staff. 
The dining hall and the luncheon room afford oppor- 
tunities for social and moral training, as apart from the 
schoolroom and playground. Initial ideas of thrift, 
self-help, and kindness to a neighbour find play in fol- 
lowing the rule " Waste nothing," either by broken 
pieces or by eating too much and picking out the best. 
Never let the stronger child pick and choose at meals ; 
it is well that sufficient supervision should be kept over 



132 'THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

manners at table to assure that the food is eaten by 
each child, and neither shirked nor wasted, while suffi- 
cient quantity is supplied to those who need it the 
most. In some schools lunch is provided, and the chil- 
dren go home to dinner after morning work; this is 
usually the case in the English high schools for girls. 
When the luncheon room is a buffet, and each pupil 
can buy what she likes for her money, the girl may 
select " bun and lemonade " or fruit only ; most need at 
least bread and butter with milk. The meal is not a 
luxury, but a necessity for brain growth, especially 
for such as do not eat good breakfasts. It would be 
better for the parents to arrange what the child shall 
have as adapted to the home meals. Let there be pro- 
vided : "two sandwiches and milk," "bread and but- 
ter with milk or cup of chocolate," " bread and stewed 
fruit," " biscuits with milk, or gingerbread." When 
work goes on from 9.30 a.m. to 1 p.m., the brain cannot 
profit by the stimulus and the training it receives if the 
supply of food to the stomach has not been replenished 
since the previous day. " Ex nihilo nihil fit." It is 
like growing a plant in poor soil; it becomes thin and 
weedy from the want of assimilated material. The 
brain is a structure made up of nerve cells and nerve 
fibres which cannot retain impressions and perform 
work without food for their nutrition. Some children 
must be taught that it is their duty to eat that they may 
live and work. 



BREAKFAST AND LUNCHEON 



133 



At meals the food should be varied, sufficient in 
quantity, good of its kind, and distributed according 
to the needs, not simply the inclinations, of each indi- 
vidual ; when meals are monotonous, children will leave 
their food even if hungry. The food should be prop- 
erly selected, well cooked, and efficiently served. 

The meals should be planned; if breakfast is at 8 
a.m., the last substantial meal having been made at 1.30 
p.m. the previous day, the supply of nourishment in 
the body is exhausted; every child should begin the 
day with a good breakfast. In girls' high schools 
most of the work is done between 9.30 and 1 o'clock; 
breakfast is a necessary preparation for such an amount 
of work. If lessons are prepared before breakfast, at 
least bread and butter and a cup of hot coffee should 
be provided on rising. 

Dr. Clement Dukes 1 gives the following as suitable 
breakfast dietary : — 

Sunday. Sausages, broiled ham and eggs. 
Monday. Dried fish, steak. 
Tuesday. Porridge, eggs buttered. 
Wednesday. Pressed beef, brawn. 
Thursday. Porridge, dried fish. 
Friday. Cold ham, bacon. 
Saturday. Porridge, fresh fish. 

Bread and butter with milk should be unstinted ; coffee 
with half milk may be substituted for older children. 

1 "The Essential of School Diet." Perceval and Co., London, 1891. 



134 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

Sugar or salt at choice should be supplied with the 
porridge. Dinner, whether taken at home or at school, 
should always be the best meal of the day — well cooked, 
carefully served, and punctual ; each item is important 
to promote good digestion. 

I quote from Dr. Dukes's " Dinner Dietary," which 
he gives at length : — 

Sunday. White soup, cold roast beef, potatoes, salads, 
pickles or beet-root, fresh fruit, pies, whatever is in season. 

Monday. Roast shoulder of mutton, onion sauce, potatoes, 
mould of cornflour with jam, cheese. 

Tuesday. Clear soup with vegetables, roast fillet of veal, or 
boiled leg of mutton, potatoes, greens, plum pudding and sweet 
sauce. 

Wednesday. Roast sirloin of beef or curried rabbits, pota- 
toes, cauliflowers, batter pudding, cheese. 

Thursday. Mutton broth with rice and vegetables, quarter 
of lamb, potatoes, peas, baked apple puddings. 

Friday. Roast loin of pork or boiled salt beef, potatoes, 
carrots, turnips, onions, cabinet pudding or baked rice, cheese. 

Saturday. Pea soup, roast leg of mutton or Irish stew, 
potatoes, parsnips, boiled marmalade puddings. 

A variety is here given ; the details should be changed 
each week. 

For the older children at least, who work in the 
morning and afternoon, with some preparation of 
lessons in the evening, a substantial tea at 6 p.m. is 
necessary. Bread in plenty, with jam, marmalade, 
honey, treacle, and watercress. Milk can be given, or, 



EVENING MEALS; ECONOMIC FEEDING 135 

if preferred, cocoa. Tea and coffee should not be com- 
menced early, and in any case much milk should be 
taken. Girls and boys who are delicate, or bad eaters, 
and those growing fast, may require in addition, egg, 
fish, or cutlet. After evening work, bread and butter 
or biscuits with milk, or milk pudding, may be 
taken if desired. The child should not go to bed 
hungry. I have spoken somewhat fully of dietaries 
because in my experience many children — whether liv- 
ing at home with their parents who are both able and 
desirous to do the best for them, or those at boarding 
school — often take insufficient food for their healthy 
growth and brain activity. Children vary much in 
appetite, and the same boy or girl at different periods 
of life may change; while some are so foolish as 
to refrain from eating because they fear to grow 
fat. 

With some families food is insufficient from lack 
of means ; still, cheap food is not always economical, 
and selected good food may be inexpensive. Bread 
made of brown flower goes farther in nutrition than 
white bread. No pieces should be wasted. Good mar- 
garine or dripping may well replace butter. Bread 
should be unstinted ; the crust is twenty-five per cent 
more nourishing than the crumb ; bread should never 
be used till the second day. Milk costs money, but it 
is very necessary for children ; it should be carefully 
protected from dust and dirt, being received in a re- 



136 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

cently scalded jug and covered with a sheet of clean 
paper to keep out dust, which so soon spoils it. 

Fat food is necessary; it may be provided in the 
form of bacon, butter, dripping, margarine, or as suet 
pudding with treacle or sugar. Sugar taken with food, 
not as sweets, is a useful heat former, and aids brain 
nutrition. Porridge for breakfast, taken with sugar 
or salt, is wholesome and nourishing; the oatmeal 
should be put to soak over night so as to be softened 
by the morning ; then twenty minutes' boiling is suffi- 
cient for thorough cooking. Cheese taken at dinner in 
small quantities is to be recommended. 

In every boarding school, and with advantage in the 
day school also, a matron should superintend the diets 
and be present at meals to see to the proper distribution 
of the food. It is an advantage that a superintendent 
who knows the children, and any with ailments or in- 
dispositions, should see that they get and take their 
necessary food. The matron knows the child with 
constant catarrh, and takes care both that in the cloak 
room the stockings are changed when damp, and in 
the dining room that the fat of the meat is eaten. 

With students who have the advantage of college life 
after the years spent at school, the continued care of 
health becomes a personal duty which should not be 
neglected in any of the items that have been indicated. 
Young men and women whose occupations are largely 
sedentary should be enabled and encouraged to take 



STUDENTS AT COLLEGE 1 37 

exercise out of doors for at least two hours every day. 
Daily and regular recreation of mind with active bod- 
ily exercise is necessary to assure that degree of con- 
tinued physical health without which a career of useful, 
social employment after college life and graduation can- 
not reasonably be expected. All the powers of the body 
and the brain need exercise to keep up perfect health 
and its probable maintenance in future years. 

It must be remembered that those who have been 
healthy and strong during school years may manifest 
the tendency of their inheritance, for good or bad, 
during the years spent at college, and the reasonable 
care of health is a duty resting on every student. 
Some inherit a tendency to gout, asthma, recurrent 
headaches, dyspepsia, and consumption, all of which 
are apt to develop after adolescence ; wilful disregard 
of personal health while engaged in study is a reckless 
disregard of the future. 

Perhaps advice as to the need of exercise is more 
necessary for women students than for men ; when the 
conditions of living are unhygienic the power of resist- 
ance and capacity for recovering health is usually less 
in women than in men. (See Chapter XIII. , " The 
Study of Children.") It is not enough to sit out of 
doors with a book ; active exercise should be taken in 
lawn tennis, walking, cycling, or on horseback. 

There can be no doubt as to the advantages that 
have resulted from providing higher educational ad- 



138 



THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 



vantages for women ; their successes at college and the 
universities seem to be established. There are, how- 
ever, other aspects of the case, which, although they 
may concern a minority, are still very important to in- 
dividuals. If a student's life is desirable for some 
women, there are others who not only fail to derive 
benefit therefrom, but receive harm from the necessary 
strains incurred ; there is apparently more difficulty in 
recovering from injured health among women than 
men. The following health statistics of women at 
college were collected by Mrs. Henry Sidgwick : 2 — 





At ages 3 


-8 years. 


At ages 8- 


14 years. 


At ages 14-18 years. 




American. 


English. 


American. 


English. 


American. 


English. 


Per cent in excellent 

or good health . . 

Per cent in fair health 

Per cent in poor or 

indifferent health . 


76.74 
I.84 

21.42 


71-45 
16.98 

"•57 


73-33 
2.98 

23.69 


67.09 
22.78 

IO.13 




61.97 
27.14 

IO.89 




IOO.OO 


100.00 


100.00 


IOO.OO 




IOO.OO 



Anaemia with neurosis, the outcome of neglect of 
health-care, is apt to become confirmed as a form of ner- 
vous dyspepsia such as has incapacitated many women, 
otherwise intellectually fitted, for a useful business or 
professional life. 

1 " Health Statistics of Women Students of Cambridge and Oxford," 
1890. University Press, England. Also quoted in Report of Commis- 
sioner of Education, Washington, 1 891-1892, Vol. II. 



BREAKDOWN AT COLLEGE 
Average Age at entering College Life 



139 





American 18.35 years. 
English 21.9 years. 




American. 


English. 


Per cent in excellent or good health 

Per cent in fair health 


78.16 

I.98 

19.86 


68.20 
22.08 


Per cent in poor or indifferent health 


9.72 




IOO.OO 


100.00 



I cannot draw any definite conclusions from these 
statistics ; the proportion of English students returned 
as of fair or indifferent health is much higher than 
according to my own observations of one hundred 
thousand children seen in English schools, mostly of 
the poorer social class. 1 

Breakdown of the brain power and mental disabil- 
ties in college life and during the early years of the 
business life of young men, and of women in their 
domestic cares or occupations, not uncommonly result 
from want of previous training to bear hard work and 
mental strains. It therefore appears useful in the 
study of education to trace the physical causes of 
mental abilities and disabilities, which should be fol- 
lowed out in all their details as a basis of mental 
hygiene. 

1 See " Report on the Scientific Study of the Mental and Physical Con- 
ditions of Childhood," based on one hundred thousand children observed 
individually in schools, by the author. The Macmillan Company. 



CHAPTER VII 

The Training and Teaching of Young Children 

I draw some distinction between training and teach- 
ing, using these terms for methods, not totally distinct 
and separate, but rather separated as having different 
objects in view. Training is intended to get the brain 
ready or prepared to benefit by the methods of instruc- 
tion and learning. The child must be trained to speak 
before there is much value in what he says; he should 
be trained to see colours before you teach the colours 
of flowers, and the natural history of their varieties. 
The child should be familiar with numbers before em- 
ploying symbols to represent them in arithmetic. You 
should train the child to move his eyes up and down 
regularly, as in looking at points or lines on the black- 
board, before expecting him to add a column of figures, 
or set down a sum on the slate. It is necessary the 
child should understand that looking up the map is 
towards the north, and turning his eyes to the right 
of the map is looking east. 

One difference between training and teaching is that 
in many ways the child may be trained by impressions 
received without the use of words, and before these are 
understood. Training the brain may precede teaching 

140 



EARLY VOCABULARY 141 

with the young child ; the nerve system may be brought 
under some control before any attempt is made to im- 
plant definite knowledge. 

It is doubtful whether some of the words early ac- 
quired correspond in the child's mind with any fixed 
ideas or thoughts : for instance, he may say as words — 
thing, gas, time, wood, soft, ten, good, as words without 
meaning. Names may, however, be associated , early 
with things seen, and a little later with actions. Thus, 
mother, dinner, sugar, bath, as terms, represent some- 
thing to the child ; so do going to bed, walking, sit- 
ting still, etc. 

In training we produce many sensory impressions, 
and subsequently connect them with names. 

The child is shown a book and made to look at it; 
then you teach the word "book" as he looks at you, 
afterwards making him say the name as he looks at the 
volume. He sees the object, learns the name, then the 
sight and the sound become associated in his head ; thus 
you proceed stage by stage in early training so as to be 
sure that each impression wanted is formed in his brain. 
He will subsequently see many books differing in size 
and in the colour of the covers, but he can connect the 
common name "book" with each of them. Through- 
out your training spontaneity of action should be en- 
couraged, while cultivating action through the senses 
and by muscle sense, so as to bring his brain under 
control. 



142 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

Training in any physical action produces temporary 
control of the nerve centres, and exercises the healthy 
brain in the quick formation of impressions through 
the senses ; much may be done early in brain training 
by exercises in following a moving object with the eyes, 
and in imitating movements made with the hands and the 
fingers. In such exercises, if repeated at intervals, the 
brain centres that have been thus frequently caused to 
act in harmony become connected by new nerve paths ; 
every fresh nerve path formed adds to the development 
of brain power. When the child rests, those nerve cells 
that were caused to act in unison may again act sepa- 
rately and spontaneously; still they remain more con- 
trollable either for repetition of the former exercise or 
for further action ; while under training the brain cen- 
tres grow more apt for mental expression and accurate 
control through the senses. In the primeval forest it 
is impossible to move freely from place to place ; but 
as paths are cleared it becomes more and more possible 
to move between different points, and as these paths 
are worn smooth by use it becomes easy to travel in 
any direction they may take. 

The inborn faculty of imitation is the physiological 
character of the brain of which you will first take ad- 
vantage in training. 

I do not think that imitation of your movements 
tends to raise any particular thought in the young 
child ; this has advantages. Training can begin before 



COORDINATED HAND EXERCISES 1 43 

thoughts occur or are implanted ; some children think 
too much and yet need training. These exercises train 
coordinated brain action and cultivate capacity for con- 
nected thinking, but they do not appear to stimulate 
thoughts. 1 

Hand exercises are useful means of training the 
child's brain, causing his nerve centres to act in the 
same manner as those of his teacher; good modes of 
action, accurate and orderly (coordinated), may thus be 
cultivated. Let the pupil stand in front of you ; try to 
get him to look at your hand as you hold it out, and 
then accurately respond to each movement your fin- 
gers make. Your movements should be slow and care- 
fully made, so that they may be distinctly seen by the 
child and exactly repeated, corresponding in action 
both as to the fingers moved and as to the direction 
and quickness of each act performed. Careful observa- 
tion and attention is required here, just as in learning 
anything else; this teaching should be precise and 
accurate, not merely a suggestion of action. The 
pupil must not look at your face, but watch your hand 
and fingers ; do not talk, then, but train him to respond 
to your movements through using his eyes only, and 
get what you want done in silence ; if you talk he will 
look at your face. If you cannot get the child to fix 
his eyes on your hand as he stands in front of you, pro- 
vide a looking-glass in which the pupil can see your 

1 Reference 54, on training children mentally feeble. 



144 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

right hand while you stand on his left side, so that your 
face is not reflected in the mirror. Begin by holding 
out a straight balanced hand with the fingers sepa- 
rated; see that each finger is straight and the thumb 
not drooped. This will require practice, for it corre- 
sponds to an attitude of attention. The pupil should 
then produce this posture exactly and move his fingers 
as you do, dropping his hand when you drop yours. 
Now for some more advanced exercises : I will name the 
digits thus — A, the thumb ; B, the index finger ; C, the 
middle finger ; D, the ring finger ; E, the little finger. 

Make the following movements with your hand, sep- 
arately, slowly one after another, at equal intervals of 
time, so that the pupil can see them individually and 
reproduce each movement himself, bending or moving 
each finger respectively to the same degree as yours : — 

Exercise I. A, bend thumb; A and B; A, B, and 
C; B, C, D, E. 

Exercise II. Bend A, B, C, D, E, together; A, E; 
E only. 

Exercise III. B, index finger, moved from side to 
side without bending it up or down. 

Exercise IV. A, bend thumb ; B, moved from side to 
side ; C, bend and straighten ; E, lit- 
tle finger, moved from side to side. 

These exercises can be enlarged upon and varied to 
any extent. It is well after each exercise to let the 



EXERCISES FOR HANDS AND EYES 1 45 

arm drop and the nerve centres rest ; before commenc- 
ing another exercise bring the hand up to the straight 
balance. 1 

Movements and the corresponding nerve centres are 
thus temporarily coordinated by sight only; sight of 
your hand controls the brain action, and this is indi- 
cated by action in the child's hand. This kind of 
training will be useful in preparing the pupil to learn 
numbers, after the numerals have been acquired as 
words. After practice in such coordinated movements 
the series may be made more complex and both hands 
employed, either together or alternately, or with the 
feet and legs. Exercises several times repeated be- 
come retained in the brain or learned, so that they are 
repeated without any further guidance from the teacher 
and simply on the direction to make such an exercise 
as you name; this is much like learning a scale in 
music. This established mode of (compound) brain 
action indicates the formation of nerve paths connect- 
ing the nerve centres whose action you coordinated 
through sight. 

I have several times referred to the importance of eye- 
movements (see Chapters III., p. 58 ; IX., pp. 180, 185); 
they need to be cultivated in brain training that their 
nerve centres may become controllable both by sight 
and by sound. Make the child move his eyes by fixing 
his sight on a small object held in your hand or fastened 

1 Reference 37. Evidence as to physical training. 
L 



146 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

at the end of a pointer ; let him follow it with his eyes 
without moving his head. Children move their eyes 
readily in following the light reflected from a hand 
mirror as it passes over the walls and the ceiling. In 
ball play, the eyes move in following the object; 
cricket cultivates rapid eye-movements, and practice 
makes an apt cricketer. Remember also what was said 
as to the advantages of cultivating distant vision. (See 
Chapter III., p. 66.) 

Movements of both the hands and the eyes, after 
they have been acquired as described, may be con- 
trolled through the ear. The child will point or turn 
his eyes as told, to the right or to the left, up or down, 
but before this you must use words and teaching 
through the ear. Hand and eye movements, when 
well under control, are useful for producing the brain 
impressions needed in teaching such varied subjects 
as numbers and arithmetic, estimation of dimensions, 
area and volume, height and distance, as well as geog- 
raphy. (See Chapters I., p. 9; IX., p. 180.) If the 
pupil's eyes move from one object to another, he re- 
ceives impressions from his eye-movements (muscle 
sense) as well as by sight, or if his hand points to them 
in succession his muscles impress each movement. 

When teaching the child to copy a drawing, say of a 
house, you control his finger movements by sight; he 
must look at the length of the line representing the 
height of the house before he draws it, and move his 



EARLY TRAINING USED IN TEACHING 



147 



eyes up and down in making the line with his pencil. 
Such movements he may practise from you before 
using the pencil ; thus he learns to imitate your action, 
then copies the drawing. In such instruction you will 
aim at getting some control over the child's brain, 
neither checking all his spontaneous movements nor 
expecting accuracy at first. When the boy measures 
the top and the sides of a card at sight he does so 
by movement of his eyes from one corner to the other, 
and receives a different degree of impression in each 
case by muscle sense. "Vertical," "horizontal," and 
"sloping" are terms or words (sounds) that we con- 
nect with direction, and must be coupled in the child's 
brain with impressions of eye-movements ; so also the 
points of the compass as seen on the map. Later on 
we shall see that much is learned by the degree or 
amount of muscle movements as well as their number, 
and that many impressions are thus received on the 
brain which are employed in teaching comparison and 
proportion. To get the eye and hand movements well 
under your control, and the impressions thus received 
by the brain retained in their order, does much to 
cultivate mental aptitude and prepare the way for 
further instruction. Such teaching does not require 
much use of words; you will proceed stage by stage 
in your work ; each acquirement prepares the brain 
for training under guidance in the future. 

Such training as I have described — though it be 



148 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD - 

called physical — is adapted to produce brain impres- 
sions very analogous to mental action, while the em- 
ployment of words is hardly necessary. 

Muscle sense is an important source of brain impres- 
sions that I must dwell upon ; particularly as the use- 
fulness of this sense does not appear to have attracted 
sufficient attention hitherto in educational methods. 
(See Chapter II., p. 37.) The muscles produce all the 
movements you see ; every movement results from 
the action of a nerve-muscular apparatus, whether 
it be gesture, speech, or writing. The nerve centre 
stimulates the muscle to contract; the muscle then 
sends up an impression to the brain; this stimulus 
results either from the muscle contracting and short- 
ening (producing movement), or from its tension and 
being pulled upon (as by a weight in the hand). With 
your eyes shut you know when you move your hand, 
you can touch your eye or nose, you can count your 
movements, say in what direction your hand moves, 
and whether quickly or slowly. Further, if you press 
a finger on the table, you know whether you are press- 
ing lightly or hard ; if weights are placed in your 
hands you can tell which is the heavier. In the kind 
of exercises described you do much to train the brain 
through the employment of muscle sense in move- 
ment ; you may exercise muscle sense in tension by 
use of weights placed in the hands. In this mode of 
physical training you will have the means of acting 



EXERCISE OF MUSCLE SENSE 1 49 

on the child's brain, whether he has mental faculty or 
not ; the power to deal with him and produce impres- 
sions is in your hands, you can make him do some 
things and feel some impressions. This concerns your 
work with a very young child or a pupil lacking in 
mental ability. 1 If you cannot at first teach him names, 
reading, and writing, you have here a form of training 
that can be employed. If the child is very dull he 
may be unable at first to reproduce your movements 
with the same accuracy as another child ; still you 
can train his muscle sense, and as this improves, the 
brain centres become more fully organised by the 
practice, while new nerve paths are formed among 
them, so that your patient, persistent, intelligent ef- 
forts lead to good results, and the dull children may 
be greatly brightened. 

This training in movements may be called "physi- 
cal" training, but as shown, it is adapted to produce 
brain impressions very analogous to mental action, 
though the employment of words is not necessary. 
It is, however, very fatiguing and cannot be long con- 
tinued like drill ; on this ground, and for other reasons, 
it seems to me that such physical brain training should 
be conducted by the class teacher in very short lessons, 
say of five minutes at most, while drilling is perhaps 
left to a special teacher devoted to the work. The 
object of the kind of brain training I urge is to give 

1 Deficient children. See References 17, 20, 21, 22, and 44. 



150 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

capacity for future instruction ; the class teacher should 
then be familiar with this as well as the other sub- 
jects to be taught hereafter, and include all the train- 
ing that is wanted for the next stage of class teaching. 
Further, the conduct of training in imitation of action 
accustoms the pupils to their teacher, and is likely to 
lead to harmonious understanding of one another. 
Where the subjects of class instruction are reading, 
writing, arithmetic up to addition, with the use of 
maps, the pupils need previous brain training in look- 
ing at and seeing, in ringer movements, and in ap- 
preciation of numbers, etc. 

The mistress of a school had learned something about 
the observation of nerve signs in children, and their 
association with brain conditions causing mental dul- 
ness ; this she explained to the other teachers of the 
staff. The children in a very dull class were then 
observed, and it was found that nearly all showed some 
subnormal nerve signs (see Chapter III.); the pupils 
in a bright class were also observed, and very few were 
here found with any defects in movement or in expres- 
sion. The teachers determined to endeavour by their 
training to improve the hand balance, finger action, 
and eye-movements of the dull children. Their efforts 
resulted in this : three months later most of the dullards 
had been so much brightened in their general brain 
power that they were removed to the upper class. 1 

1 Reference 54. 



GYMNASTIC EXERCISES 151 

Preparatory training does not necessarily produce 
immediate results in mental power; it has, however, 
been shown by experience that the well-trained child 
acquires knowledge more easily and accurately after 
a period of preliminary training. 

Dr. Hartwell speaks of exercises of " the coarse 
adjustments of the body," in contrast with quickness 
and accuracy of eye and hand movements; it is on 
the latter I have mainly dwelt as a means of training 
intellectual capacity. Dr. Hartwell says : * "In gen- 
eral, we may say, that the Grecian gymnastics and 
athletics, and the martial exercises of the ancient 
and mediaeval Gauls and Teutons, were of a char- 
acter to affect chiefly the fundamental or earliest de- 
veloped neuro-muscular mechanisms which constitute 
the coarse adjustment of the body. The more mas- 
sive bodily virtues of strength, endurance, and speed 
are promoted by popular sports ; whereas dexterity, 
address, sleight-of-hand, quickness and accuracy of eye 
and hand, require more specialised and complicated 
forms of exercise for their development. In other 
words, British sports are insufficient for the purpose 
of giving a complete training to the fundamental and 
accessory groups of muscles, and require to be sup- 
plemented by such drill as is afforded by the sys- 
tematic gymnastics of the Swedes and Germans. For 
purely educational ends no system of physical training 

1 Dr. Hartwell, op. cit. y 1892. 



152 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

has yet been devised which is equal to the Swedish 
school gymnastics. American physical training will 
remain a thing of shreds and patches, unless the pro- 
moters and governors of our educational institutions 
shall set themselves to learn and to apply the teach- 
ing of science and experience with regard to the 
nature, scope, and results of physical education." 

To what are here described as British sports and 
Swedish gymnastics, which exercise the body and the 
muscles, I have added and here present for your use 
exercises in movements and through the senses which 
afford brain training adapted to evolve the child's 
mental powers and healthiness. 

It is necessary to train the brain centres for the 
purpose of rendering them apt for mental processes. 
Accurate impressions are essential; these must be 
often repeated, in order that they may be exactly re- 
tained in the brain ; this is true both for a set of 
movements and in learning to pronounce words. The 
exactness of the impressions made on the brain is a 
physiological matter; it is much under the control of 
the teacher, whose method is to produce impressions 
one at a time, by sight, then through the ear, and 
others by feeling (muscle sense). The understanding 
of the impressions received is something occurring in 
the pupil's brain ; it is an interaction among the nerve 
centres which we should not attempt to produce till 
we know by response in the child — or other reason- 



IMPRESSIONS WITHOUT UNDERSTANDING 153 

able evidence — that the primary impressions have 
been received and retained. 

Neither movements in physical training, nor the 
words the child is taught to pronounce, have a mean- 
ing connected with them in his mind at first. Exact- 
ness and retentiveness of impressions by sight, sound, 
and feeling must be produced first, then these may 
be coupled in repetition ; thus in brain action the 
nerve centres become connected by the formation 
of nerve paths among them; " understanding " comes 
later, and probably corresponds to some gently spread- 
ing area of the brain in action, so that this should not 
be attempted till the primary impressions themselves 
are retained and accurate. (See Chapter VIII., p. 164.) 

Red, white, blue, may be produced as primary sight 
impressions ; " red," " white," " blue," may then be 
pronounced as words ; in repetition each colour and 
name may be coupled by association, a sight impres- 
sion with each term. At another lesson each sight 
impression may be coupled with the term "colour," 
— red "colour," white "colour," blue "colour." Then 
" colour seen " may be abstracted from the teaching, 
and applied to the discrimination and description of 
coloured objects, — red, white, and blue flowers. This 
is why I prefer teaching colour with pieces of paper, 
etc., not coloured objects of special form, so that the 
colour seen may form the impression alone, and on 
other occasions may be abstracted from among many 



154 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

impressions received by sight. Children are often 
confused in expressing their early impressions, they 
will name sounds as light or dark, or objects as large 
or heavy, indiscriminately; the pupil cannot classify 
his sensory impressions till he has received and re- 
tained many results of his training, coupled with 
names for expression. 

Discrimination and choice indicate interaction among 
the nerve centres of the child's brain, and form an 
elementary mode of mental action worth training. A 
very young child without the use of words may make 
choice between objects and colours seen, or respond 
more readily to certain sounds. He may select from 
objects before him a bright sovereign in preference to 
a dull farthing, even if after taking it up he only puts 
it in his mouth. Such discrimination and choice is 
a very rudimentary preparation for making compari- 
sons, and precedes the faculty for judging of similarity 
or difference among sensory impressions. The dis- 
crimination and retention of sensory impressions under 
guidance lead to experience which forms an intelli- 
gent basis of choice ; when two objects are seen, two 
sight impressions are produced in the brain, and the 
stronger is expressed in action. Training in making 
a choice is an early method of cultivating the child's 
character in ability to make up his mind at once. A 
young child when asked, " Shall I read to you ? " just 
says "yes" or "no," or cannot decide. In an older 



TEACHING COMPARISON 1 55 

child experience helps him to decide ; former impres- 
sions arise in connection with reading ; it means keep- 
ing quiet and not going out to play. Training in 
making a choice is an aid to cultivating voluntary 
power, after some experience has been acquired under 
guidance. (See Chapter X., p. 205.) 

In brain training a fixed set of impressions united 
to act in a certain order is often required ; each should 
be accurate, and the whole series well retained, ready 
for reactivity. This may be cultivated in repeated 
physical exercises, or by words first taught separately, 
then repeated in a certain order. Thus, the letters of 
the alphabet separately, then in their order ; or, more 
usefully, the elementary sounds may be taught. The 
use of numerals is so necessary in teaching that I think 
they should be taught early as an order of words ; 
among older children verses may be learned. 

A fixed set of impressions in the brain of the child 
is needed when you try to cultivate the faculty of 
comparison, and the expression of addition or pro- 
portion. In training the child, a mental standard of 
weight may be established by placing one ounce, two, 
three, and so on up to ten ounces in his hand in succes- 
sion, thus producing proportional strains on the muscles, 
— as described in Chapter II., — and impressions of 
corresponding degree in his brain will be retained 
after practice. (See Chapter X., p. 199, on Volun- 
tary Power.) The feeling of each weight may then be 



156 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

associated with the numerals ; thus he learns to appre- 
ciate and express an ounce, two ounces, etc. The pupil 
learns weights as he learns other things, by impression 
through the senses ; he learns colour by sight, num- 
bers by movement of his hands and eyes, weight and 
proportional weights by the sense of the muscle strain. 
In such a lesson it is useful to teach that you are 
" weighing" ; by and by, after experience, the abstract 
idea of weight and pressure will be understood by 
the child. Weight, as apart from dimensions, is im- 
pressed by using iron weights in which size and 
weight are directly proportional, in contrast with 
empty or weighted pill boxes. I think weighing in 
the hands gives better early training than the use of 
scales. 

Measurement of length can be taught by movements 
of the head and the eyes. Give the child sticks — one 
inch, two, five inches long ; make him look at each in 
turn from end to end, then feel the length with his 
fingers ; each length may afterwards be expressed by a 
number. Such training by employing muscle sense is 
useful in teaching dimensions, area, volume, and pro- 
portion ; sensory impressions are here produced by 
muscular movements, not by muscle strain (see Chap- 
ter II., p. 37); this is less easy to control, hence I think 
the use of weights the best means for early training 
in comparison. 

In training the brain you thus proceed to teach the 



TRAINING STAGE BY STAGE 1 57 

names of the numerals, and repeat them in order ; 
then establish a mental standard of weight, and a 
standard of measurement, employing the numerals for 
expression. All this helps to produce fixed and accu- 
rate impressions on the brain, which will be employed 
in their revived activity when teaching comparison and 
proportion, as well as the use of symbols, which facili- 
tate calculations as much as words aid connected think- 
ing and expression. 

Training must proceed stage by stage. The pupil 
can feel the greater strain of four ounces in his hand 
after the two ounce weight, and learn to express this 
as " the greater weight " before he names the weights ; 
it is but little good for him to name the weight before 
he has felt it. Again, the pupil can say which stick 
looks and feels longer, before he can estimate the 
length and express it, which needs more practice. 

Elementary training in mental processes a little more 
advanced may be used in comparison as to "agree- 
ment or difference," in any such lesson impressions 
previously made in the brain are compared under guid- 
ance. The teacher should carefully consider some 
one point for comparison, it may be weight, length, 
size, or colour. Each of these characters should have 
been taught previously by many examples where the 
sensory impression has been associated in the teach- 
ing with terms of description; it is thus our business 
to trace out and study the impressions produced in 



158 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

good training, . and not to be satisfied with a con- 
nected train of ideas in our own minds which are to 
be implanted in the child's brain by the use of words 
only. 

Thus : objects such as flowers may be compared as 
to colour; this must follow teaching of the colours 
and their names; it is also necessary that the child 
should know that the term " colour " includes red, white, 
and blue. From among many coloured flowers the 
pupil is guided to select those of the same colour. 
Weights felt are alike or unlike ; the sticks felt and 
seen are of the same length or different; the feeling 
of two series of movements made with the hand are 
alike, or one series is greater and more frequent than 
the other. 

A further stage is to discriminate size from weight, 
as by the use of weighted pill boxes ; to aid abstraction 
and appreciation of the characters compared, lessons in 
number, weight, length, and colour should at first be 
short — say ten minutes. This kind of training by 
sensory impressions is necessary before we have any 
right to expect the pupil to understand the teaching 
of equal quantities, addition, proportion as taught by 
the use of figures, or description of form and shape. 



CHAPTER VIII 
Advancing School Method and Teaching 

The child on entering school is placed under a new- 
set of circumstances adapted both for teaching and 
training. One very important element in school life is 
that children tend to imitate one another and do as 
others do, each boy looks at the others as well as at 
his teacher, for children are mostly gregarious and 
social in their habits. The children show spontaneity ; 
you want to cultivate attention and mental aptitude 
for instruction; if the child be already trained to sit 
tolerably still, while his movements of hands and eyes 
are controllable, you proceed to produce new brain 
impressions and couple them with names, accompanied 
by your directions which guide him. Show a piece of 
red paper, make him look at it, and then look at you 
as you pronounce the word "red" while he repeats 
the word in imitation. He gains a new impression, that 
of the word, then sight of the paper and sound of 
the word are coupled in his brain by seeing and 
hearing at the same time. 

Make him hold out his hand and move the fingers 
A, B, C, D, E, one at a time in succession, and again 
all together ; then, dropping his hand, look at you while 

J 59 



160 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

you say and he pronounces the word "five." 1 Make 
him turn his eyes to five similar objects at equal dis- 
tances apart, then look at you and say " five " ; thus in 
each case you make five impressions by muscle sense 
and teach the numeral. Put an ounce weight in his 
hand, add others up to five ounces, and make him say 
" five " ; he feels by his muscles the strain added by 
each weight, and feels the " five " heavier than the one. 

The impressions made have to be associated with 
terms of expression such as describe what is seen, 
felt, or heard ; the names of things and of actions as 
well as of mental processes must be learnt; for in- 
stance, "book," "colour," "weight," "addition," etc., 
and these must be clearly and separately appreciated 
by the pupil. 

You may find it best with most children to let them 
get a number of different kinds of impressions at the 
same time, as when the child sees, feels, handles an 
object while you name it; he will then at some sub- 
sequent period have to separate and classify these differ- 
ent impressions when learning to make comparisons. 

You may think it convenient first to demonstrate 
what you have to show without full explanation, and 
describe it afterwards fully. Sometimes, as with 
advanced pupils, you may prefer to describe what 
you have to teach, and the general principles to be 
illustrated, and demonstrate your facts or experiments 

1 See "Notation of Finger Exercises," p. 105. 



DEMONSTRATION AND TEACHING l6l 

afterwards. 1 I have found this the better plan for 
gaining the attention of a class in chemistry. 

With a difficult child, however, I have found it 
necessary to produce impressions one at a time, or 
singly, as explained in Chapter VII., p. 153. 

You cannot teach much about length till the pupil 
can use numbers ; you cannot usefully teach him to 
measure lengths in inches till he knows the inch as 
a standard of measurement. I think you will find 
he can compare lengths before he can express them 
in words, and that is a true mental act. Take a plain 
card 1x2 and pin it to the blackboard to be looked 
at ; as you point direct the pupil to look along the top, 
see that his eyes move, then let him look away and 
again receive a fresh impression of the side of the 
card looking from the top corner downward. The 
child will soon appreciate the different amount or 
degree of his impressions in the two eye-movements; 
later on, when he has acquired a standard of meas- 
urement, he will be able to make comparison and ex- 
press the ratio. Thus the child becomes ready to learn 
how to describe the form of the card by its proportion, 
and to recognise its shape as oblong. 

This kind of analysis as to the brain action in a pupil 
shows us that in early training sensory impressions 
must precede teaching ; thus : 

1 See Catalogue of Examples in Natural History, " Mental Faculty," 
pp. 166-212. 

M 



1 62 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

1. Names of the numerals in their fixed order, as 
heard (auditory impressions). 

2. Numbers in their order of degree as felt in move- 
ments, and numbers of weights (felt by muscle sense). 

3. Standard of measurements, associated with terms 
for expression. 

4. Standard of weights and the terms of expres- 
sion. 

5. He must be taught by practice to associate men- 
tally the terms describing measurement and weight 
with the impressions he has previously felt and re- 
tained; as one inch, two ounces, four ounces, the 
latter being greater. 

6. The pupil must also be taught the terms of direc- 
tion as used in teaching connected with the mental 
processes required of him. He must understand what 
is meant by counting, adding, comparing. 

In a simple act of comparison of the length of two 
lines at sight, the brain processes appear to be as 
follows : — 

1. Acts of observation, turning the eyes and seeing, 
produce sensory impressions by sight and by muscle 
sense. 

2. Under your direction to compare the measure- 
ments there arise in the pupil's brain : (a) the standard 
of measure, and (b) the numerals as to means of ex- 
pression. 

3. A judgment is formed and expressed; this is a 



IMPRESSIONS AND COORDINATED TEACHING 163 

mental act; it differs from the impressions received, 
and is due to interaction among brain centres. 

4. We see plainly, then, that the direction given 
is necessary to the formation of this act of judg- 
ment. 

It is our business to trace out and study the impres- 
sions produced in good coordinated teaching. 

Impressions on the brain can be made without the 
use of words ; but the words employed in giving direc- 
tions must be carefully taught. With weights in either 
hand the child does feel the strain of each ; the degree 
of each impression is not the same. He can be taught 
to express comparison in terms of "greater," "less"; 
so with comparison and expression of lengths. Here 
he compares real impressions received, and so learns 
to understand comparison of quantity when using fig- 
ures in arithmetic. Length felt by finger movement 
produces an impression on the brain ; such lengths 
may be equal, or one may be longer. It is often very 
interesting to study the methods of teaching a very 
dull pupil. A child mentally deficient or backward is 
often so slow in all mental processes that it is easier 
to follow these in detail than in a brighter and quicker 
child ; the methods of his intelligence may be almost 
infantile, and like those of a child only just learning 
to speak ; but if the dull boy has speech we may follow 
out the slow working of his mind more readily than in 
the little child. I took a boy, mentally defective, who 



1 64 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

had been trained as I have explained, and showed him 
a horseshoe ; he looked at it well. Without speaking I 
guided his finger, moving it slowly and uniformly from 
end to end outside the curve, then let his arm hang 
limp by his side. Again, I guided his finger from end 
to end inside, and then let his arm hang down. When 
asked, " What can you say ? " he replied, " It is rough." 
"What else?" He said nothing. Desiring to abstract 
in his brain the feeling of the surface from the length 
of movement, I said, " Do as I do," moving my finger 
in the air slowly, as when following the convexity of 
the horseshoe, and again, after an instant, moved as 
when tracing the inside of the shoe. " What can you 
say?" He replied, "Round." "What length?" A 
smile spread in his face, and he replied, " Longer out- 
side than in ; it is bent." Asked, " If I straighten it 
out as a straight bar, how long will it be top and bot- 
tom ? " at the same time moving my finger as if along 
the top and bottom of a bar. He replied, " Same top 
and bottom ; " but the pause during thought was long, 
and his features worked the while. 

The appreciation of time needs to be taught by im- 
pressions received. The same boy had just learnt to 
read the time from the clock ; he knew the sight and 
names of the figures on the clock face, and could tell 
the time exactly. He knew that there are twenty-four 
hours in the day, and sixty minutes in an hour. He 
could not tell me how long lessons lasted in the morn- 



APPRECIATING TIME 1 65 

ing, but said, "Ten to twelve;" after being directed 
to count, he said, " Two hours." 

Asked, " How long are you at dinner ? " he said, " I 
don't know." Wishing to produce some impressions of 
time in action, I made him move his head, then his hand, 
in following my movements, first slowly but uniformly, 
then more rapidly ; expression was then easily elicited, 
"That is quick movement." After such exercises in 
appreciating time he told me that he was in school two 
hours in the morning, and after a pause added, and half 
an hour at dinner, showing that he understood what was 
asked for. I think that boy could be taught impressions 
of time as Well as the clock, and suggested to make him 
run half a minute, one minute, then ten minutes, etc. 

The child of school age should know all the objects 
in the room and be able to name them ; it is also 
necessary as school work becomes a more serious mat- 
ter that definite ideas should be conveyed by what is 
said, as well as lines of conduct, such as : kindness, 
obedience, justice, punctuality, as abstract terms under- 
stood and associated with modes of action. 

At seven years of age a trained child should already 
be possessed of a vocabulary available for expressing 
thought and mental action, and for giving descriptions 
and replies to questions. The acquisition of words is 
further necessary that he may become amenable to 
guidance and the words of direction and teaching em- 
ployed. Language is one of the greatest possessions 



1 66 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

of man; training the child in the proper use of words 
effects much by imparting thoughts to the mind. 

I think ideas of causation may be taught early. In 
training observation, the pupil must be practised in 
noting the order of events in time; you can teach 
what happens and what follows without giving expla- 
nations. The sunlight comes upon the garden in the 
morning, then the flowers open; the light reaches the 
plant near the window, next day the stem is bent 
towards the light ; the bee visits the flower, then gets 
the honey. These events can be shown or taught 
without explanations, which cannot be understood by 
young children ; but they should not be taught in 
school that the flowers open to meet the sun, that 
the plant bends towards the light because it needs it, 
or that the bee knows he can get honey from the 
flower. Sunlight reaches the flowers before they 
open ; unequal growth in the two sides of the stem, 
resulting from the action of light, is the mechanism 
which produces the bending; while it has been shown 
that the colour of the flowers controls the flight of the 
bee. 1 

It is important in teaching to train the pupils to 
separate their observations or brain impressions, as we 
know this process is necessary to classification and 
comparison. If a number of objects are seen and 

1 For examples, see " Anatomy of Movement," pp. 78 to 84. The 
Macmillan Company. 



COMPARISON OF MEASUREMENTS 1 67 

felt they may be classed as to weight, measurement, 
dimensions, and proportion, or as to colour, etc. Length 
and breadth as two measurements may be compared; 
but size and weight have no common unit for com- 
parison. For this reason in early training only one 
class of sensory impressions should be produced at a 
time as far as possible. At first the pupil must be 
guided as to what to compare ; the points for compari- 
son should be arranged in classes and their proportion 
studied. In other words, the child must know what 
to look at and be guided as to what to look for; he 
is taught to look at the two ends of the bean and 
measure their distance apart, then to look at the sides 
and to measure the breadth, then to make comparison 
of his impressions of length and breadth, which are 
sensory impressions by feeling, but not each of the 
same degree ; the length is greater. 

Throughout your teaching some amount of sponta- 
neous brain activity, both in movement of the body and 
in thought, should be encouraged and cultivated, as 
well as controlled. The teaching should be stage by 
stage. First for the purpose of producing impressions 
on the brain, then to connect and guide action result- 
ing, it is useful to allow some "question time" for the 
pupils' spontaneous inquiries. Words must be used in 
teaching, and as far as possible they should be associ- 
ated with definite impressions and thoughts. Geog- 
raphy is associated with the earth and the conditions 



1 68 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

of its surface all the world over ; not only with maps 
and towns. I have spoken before of teaching from 
maps ; models are also most useful. After teaching the 
class from the map that London is five hundred miles 
from Aberdeen, a pupil may ask, " How far is five hun- 
dred miles ? " Remind him how long it took, and how 
he felt, after walking to a place five miles away ; then 

r 

tell him to think of walking five hundred miles. Thus 
thoughts are separated from the sensory impressions 
that primarily produce them, and being still retained, 
can be employed and directed by the use of words; 
distance can be appreciated by employing a fixed stan- 
dard of distance, and the comparison of numbers. 

In the study of history and geography it is neces- 
sary, from time to time, to extend the field of thought 
and the number of known facts under consideration, so 
that general views may be formed of historical periods, 
or of the physical and climatic conditions of a country 
— as well as in studying the causes of events through 
periods of time. On the other hand, it is often desira- 
ble to make a detailed study of a short historical 
period with a few historical characters ; or of some 
one mountain range or river valley; or some other 
selected subject for detailed study. In preparation 
for such mental processes the brain must have many 
impressions stored up and connected with terms of 
expression, all retained and ready for reactivity and 
rearrangement under the guidance of teaching, as re- 



ENLARGING THE FIELD OF THOUGHT 169 

lations among them are successively pointed out. The 
mind should be well stored with observations and facts, 
which can be studied in many ways. 

Training for this kind of mental aptitude in enlarg- 
ing and limiting the field of thought may be practised 
when teaching the observation of objects which pro- 
duce sensory impressions under your guidance and 
control. When making the child select one object 
from among many you control his field of observation, 
and limit his thoughts to that one specimen. It is 
perhaps more difficult to extend his range of thought 
sufficiently to include what is not within his sight. The 
capacity to think of many things at one time, or, on 
the other hand, to limit thought, is an important mental 
habit ; this is necessary for students of natural history, 
who must follow numerous examples when collecting 
the experience required for large conceptions or gener- 
alisations. When you demonstrate a growing seedling 
plant as an object in teaching, the pupil should at first 
limit his observation to what he sees; looking at the 
root, the stem, the leaves, and their parts ; then he may 
make comparisons among his observations. After this 
the pupil must be led to enlarge his subject of thought, 
and include the water as a part of the food material of 
the plant, and the light which stimulates and controls 
the growth of the plant structure. 

Again, when you demonstrate that light causes 
bending of the head of the plant, the pupil must for 



170 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

the time limit his attention to the stem and observe 
its two sides, noting that the side towards the light 
is concave and shorter. Thus he learns that light 
lessens the growth of the stem on the side that is 
illuminated. In this way the mechanism of growth, 
the food supply, the effects of light, all become grad- 
ually familiar to the mind of the pupil ; further, he is 
thus trained in his brain action, and in mental habits 
useful in studying other subjects. 1 

Memory or retentiveness of the directions, and the 
means of guidance given in teaching, form methodi- 
cal modes of procedure and principles of thought. 
We do not teach logic to children, but your teaching 
should be according to the principles of logic, con- 
ducted stage by stage. In the study of both science 
and language the methodical order of procedure in 
analysis and classification needs to be firmly retained 
in memory; either subject of study may afford such 
brain training as gives mental aptitude for the other. 
Parsing is a useful preparation for the systematic 
description of natural objects ; some form of schedule 
is useful in teaching natural history, and practice in 
employing it will prepare the pupil's faculties for the 
grammatical analysis of verbs, nouns, and adjectives. 
Modes of guidance, directions, the means of expres- 
sion, as well as judgments previously formed and re- 

1 Examples. See " Mental Faculty," Catalogue of a Museum of Natural 
History, pp. 163-212. The Macmillan Company. 



TRAINING THE BRAIN AND MIND 171 

tained, may be revived, then rearranged, and thus lead 
to the acquisition of fresh knowledge ; such modes of 
mental action are called into play in teaching geom- 
etry. 

The methods of education should be coordinated; 
the modes of brain action employed in analysing 
words may be previously exercised in analysing ob- 
jects ; estimation of proportional weights felt in the 
hands prepares the way for understanding proportion 
as expressed by lines or figures ; the habit of observ- 
ing each part of an object and then comparing them 
leads to observing proportion in growth, and clears the 
way for understanding the effects of light, heat, and 
gravitation as they respectively affect the growth of 
plants. 

Thus, after early training in cultivation of the gen- 
eral characters of brain action described in Chapter 
II., mental training in school may proceed to exercise 
choice and discrimination. The faculty of observation 
and separation of qualities observed in objects, fol- 
lowed by their analysis and classification, prepares the 
way for the formation of generalisations which form 
knowledge of wide application. 

Habits of mental analysis may be trained by accu- 
racy in methodical observation ; let the pupil begin 
early to look at one thing at a time, then at its 
parts, and later at the relations of many things and 
events to one another. This will exercise some of 



172 



THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 



the modes of brain action that are employed in the 
analysis of languages ; I have found through an ex- 
perience of many years, that students well educated 
in languages are more easily trained than others as 
observers in science and in medicine. 

A schedule may be used for the purpose of direct- 
ing the pupil when studying natural history. 



Sensory impressions. 

Observation of the still 

object. 


Mental action. 

Mental comparison 

of: — 


Enlarging field of 
thought and obser- 
vation of external 
agents. 


Observing and study- 
ing growth and action 
in the living object. 


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This schedule directs the pupil to observe in a 
methodical manner so that he may first receive sen- 
sory impressions by sight and feeling in his observa- 
tions. Next, processes of thought and the methodical 
interaction of the impressions received are guided, 
leading to mental comparison. The field of thought 
and observation is now extended, by the directions to 
include the conditions around and the action of ex- 
ternal agents. Finally, the schedule directs observ- 
ing and studying living action under the effects of 



NATURAL HISTORY 1 73 

the environment,- and exercises all the mental powers 
of the pupil. 

Space will not allow me to enter into the details 
of systematic teaching here. I present this plan of 
schedule in illustration of modes of study that I have 
followed, and which you may use in child-study. 1 

A few examples will be given : — 

Specimen I. Peas are inanimate or still objects ; let 
the pupil select one, then measure it every way with 
his fingers and feel its weight. All measurements 
are the same, it presents no separate parts. 

Specimen II. Take a French bean, there are two 
ends, two surfaces, and the margin ; it is longer than 
broad, and broader than thick, thus it is longer than 
thick. It is heavier than a pea. 

Specimen III. A seedling pea sprouted in damp 
moss; it has grown and shows new parts. There is 
a seed case, and inside there are two cotyledons ; also 
the root and the stem. Measurement and compari- 
son show the root longer than the stem, the cotyle- 
dons have not grown; the stem is arched, the con- 
cave side is shorter. 

1 See author's " Mental Faculty." The Macmillan Company. 



CHAPTER IX 

The Nerve Centres in Infancy, School Life, and 
Adolescence; their Health and Training 

The nerve system of the child is growing rapidly 
during the early years. Much depends upon the care 
taken to nourish the brain and cultivate it during the 
periods of development, as they pass from stage to 
stage, through infancy and childhood up to adolescence. 
Remember always that the brain grows with the body, 
the well-being of the child depends on each, the body 
and the brain react upon one another in promoting 
growth and healthiness ; while the brain health may be 
cultivated through the senses by controlling the influ- 
ences that act upon the child from without. The brain 
is not only growing, it develops as a leaf bud develops ; 
new parts are forming, it receives many impressions 
which effect results in building up its structure and 
organisation. Whether at home, or in the school, or in 
the streets, traces of the brain activities effected 
through the hours of each day are in part retained ; and 
the education received — good or bad — lays a founda- 
tion for the future response of the brain under various 
circumstances. 

In healthy infancy spontaneity and frequent spread- 

*74 



SPONTANEITY AND PLAY 1 75 

ing movements, representing activity in the brain, are 
to be encouraged by at times playing with the baby. 
Watch the growth of the head and the soft fontanelle, 
where you feel the brain pulsating with each beat of 
the heart ; if this fails then there is something wrong 
with the child's health, due to defective feeding, mis- 
management, or other cause, and the brain becomes less 
active in growth and movements. Brain healthiness is 
promoted by encouraging its natural modes of activity, 
and equally by such organised occupations of children 
as cause a healthy interaction among the nerve centres. 
When the child enters school there is a great change in 
his environment. It becomes necessary to train the 
child that he may learn, also to produce capacity for 
coordinated action, that under control impressions may 
be produced, retained, and repeated in due order. 
Speech and retentiveness must be cultivated. Allow 
the child ample time for spontaneous play. Children 
are naturally sociable and like one another's society; 
they also like to be guided, if it is done wisely ; the 
child gets tired of being left too much alone. 

Do not expect the child to do more either in the kind 
or in the quantity of work than his present capacity 
allows; you should therefore analyse the occupations 
and the methods of teaching you propose to use, so as 
to proceed stage by stage with your training and teach- 
ing. Take as an example School Shop, from an educa- 
tional point of view : do not expect the pupil to know 



176 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

how to buy with real money till he knows the coins and 
understands that they have a real value. He should 
learn about money stage by stage ; for this purpose he 
must be trained to look at and name colours, to feel 
and compare weights, to measure size with his fingers, 
and to feel the margins and the surface of the coins as 
well as to look at them. He must learn to separate 
what he sees from what he feels, and to distinguish 
weight from size. It is not easy at first to make a 
child understand that a parcel containing a pound of 
tea weighs as much as a pound weight of iron that he 
feels in his hand ; he gains the knowledge by experi- 
ence, perhaps verbal explanations do not help him 
greatly. Much previous training in the general charac- 
ters of brain action is needed here -to prepare the child 
for mental processes acting regularly, without disorder 
or extra work other than that called for by the guidance 
of your directions ; if previous brain training has been 
neglected, mental confusion (not understanding) is likely 
soon to weary his brain. 

We all want our mental processes to be accurate, and 
the methods of teaching should be exact, but not too 
mechanical. Let there be a plan of procedure ; but while 
training the brain through sensory impressions, whether 
for movements, the use of words, or in comparing and 
thinking, let there be some opportunity the while for 
spontaneous action and thought. A little extra move- 
ment, or a few extra thoughts not quite under guidance, 



MENTAL APTITUDE iyy 

may do no harm, but lead to a better understanding ; 
they need not always be suppressed; they are like 
the spreading area of facial expression of intelligence, 
gentle and undefmable, that may be seen when a 
question is asked and understood, pleasing to look at, 
and it may be more indicative of attention and ap- 
preciation than any response in words. Thus, while 
training the brain by sensory impressions for modes of 
motor action, use of words, etc., let there be some op- 
portunities for spontaneous action of the nerve centres. 
Children will talk at home of their difficulties in class, 
the points they do not understand, and what they say 
was not explained to them, saying how they wanted 
to ask questions; sometimes the pupils criticise the 
teacher and the teaching, and complain that they are 
told "they ought to understand." It would be interest- 
ing if intelligent persons could describe their own early 
difficulties and analyse them, so as to see what was 
lacking ; whether their teacher tried to connect ideas 
that did not exist in their heads, or used words that 
had no meaning to them at the time. 

Mental aptitude, or the potentialities for mental 
training, are indicated in a child in whom we observe 
spontaneity of action, easily controlled through the 
senses and regulated by impressions received; spon- 
taneity of movement, liveliness in facial expression, 
talkativeness, with capacity to follow organised games 
and occupations, are all hopeful signs. 



178 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

Spontaneous brain action is the basis of mental 
power. In the infant at birth, as in the adult during 
quiescent states, the respiratory movements occur in 
a uniform series. While the child is awake spontane- 
ous movements are seen in the limbs, especially in 
the small parts, the fingers and toes, but they occur 
in no apparent order, and are not uniform in char- 
acter ; further, they are not controlled by the senses. 
Spreading area of brain action is seen in movements 
when the child cries. When three months old some 
control of these movements may be seen as the child 
is impressed by sight or sound ; this is the earliest 
manifestation of potentiality for mental action; still, 
there is no delayed expression of impressions received 
and no act of choice is observed. 

At birth no signs of mental attention are seen ; 
the infant shows many spontaneous movements corre- 
sponding to spontaneous action in many brain centres, 
but these are not controllable through the senses. 
Later in the evolution of the infant this spontaneity 
may be momentarily arrested by impressions received 
through the organs of sense. Show the infant a 
coloured object and coordinated action follows ; spon- 
taneity of movement is quelled for a few seconds, 
then the object is grasped by a prehensile action. 
During the period of quiescence there is said to be 
an act of attention followed by adapted action. The 
brain processes during the quiescence appear to be 



THE GROWTH OF ATTENTION 1 79 

% 

readjustments of the brain centres which are ex- 
pressed by the adapted act of prehension. The physi- 
ologist cannot admit that the will thus arranges the 
brain ; this act of attention results from the sight of 
the object. The brain conditions necessary to an act 
of attention are (1) healthiness in the general char- 
acters of the brain, (2) spontaneity, and (3) control of 
the brain by impressions through the senses, as shown 
by inhibition and the coordinated action following. 
Attention, as a physiological process, is inferred to 
be action among the brain centres, and may occur 
with or without subsequent expression. 

The school child must be tolerably quiet before he 
will think connectedly. A pause for thought is re- 
quired in thinking over the answer to a question; 
there may be an expression indicating understanding 
without any verbal response. Sometimes attention is 
best arrested by sight only; other children may be 
more easily impressed by hearing the spoken word. 

In cultivating the faculty of attention we need 
spontaneity in the brain as the foundation of mental 
power; we must produce some impression on the 
brain, and for the sake of exactness and simplicity 
in training a slight impression through one sense 
organ only is at first advisable ; this is especially the 
case with difficult children. The impress must be 
distinctly produced before a full act of attention can 
follow ; the object must be looked at for some sec- 



l8o THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

onds before it is completely seen, as, for example, 
the figure in a proposition of Euclid ; hence, irregular 
eye-movements may interfere with attention. (See 
Chapter II., p. 33.) An excess of spontaneous brain 
action and any spreading area of activity, such as 
corresponds to a number of disconnected thoughts, 
may be indicated by a number of extra movements, 
or fidgeting, with vague disjointed response in place 
of the signs of attention. This is often observable 
with the signs of fatigue in restless movements of 
the eyes, the fingers, and the feet. 

The subject of mental fatigue has been investigated 
by many accurate observers on experimental lines. 
At one period a great deal was said on " over 
pressure," sometimes, I venture to think, without suf- 
ficient analysis of the many causes which may pro- 
duce exhaustion. Weariness may be due to many 
circumstances ; much might be said as to the effects 
of muscular exercise, ventilation, diet, conditions of 
the blood and of the circulation, etc. (See Chap- 
ter VI., p. 120.) But I wish here to keep as closely as 
possible to the consideration of brain conditions lead- 
ing to fatigue and exhaustion. The signs of brain 
fatigue are easily observable in the movement and 
balance of the parts of the body, especially as seen 
in the face, the eyes, and in finger action. When 
the brain is fatigued, the force expended in move- 
ments is small in amount, and the total number of 



BRAIN FATIGUE l8l 

movements may be lessened; while action in the 
child is less easily and regularly controlled through 
the senses. At the same time a certain number of 
irregular movements, spontaneous, or not stimulated 
by your directions, may occur, suggesting that the 
fatigued child is reduced to a more childish condi- 
tion of spontaneity than when his brain is fresh and 
healthy ; thus the eyes may often move in the hori- 
zontal direction uncontrolled -by sight or sound, or 
the fingers may twitch as he holds his pen, or when 
the hands are held out and he fidgets without doing 
his work. Loss of force or nerve tone is indicated 
by the lessening of facial expression, fulness or baggi- 
ness under the eyes, to which may be added spon- 
taneous knitting of the eyebrows (corrugation). The 
hands when held out free in front are usually at an 
unequal level and the fingers droop, while the head 
may drop to one side and the shoulders be unequally 
balanced. In such a child all movement in response 
is slow and inaccurate, as well as the speech and the 
signs of mental action. 

The chief means of preventing exhaustion lie in the 
early recognition of the signs of fatigue. The indica- 
tions of commencing brain fatigue may appear, either 
in slowness and inaccuracy of mental response, or in 
the physical signs seen in the face and in movements 
as described. It is quite possible for a trained pupil 
showing considerable signs of brain fatigue to continue 



1 82 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

good mental work, — as, for instance, during an ex- 
amination, — but there is peril in prolonged periods 
of brain fatigue without recreation. I will not say 
that fatigue is always to be avoided ; but the day's 
fatigue should be recruited by the night's rest. 

The term mental fatigue is used to express the 
amount of brain energy spent in mental processes. 
Fatigue results from work done among the brain cells ; 
thus, if the pupil hears, understands, and retains im- 
pressions from your teaching, or when he works out 
a sum or writes an essay, work is performed by the 
brain centres as each mental act is performed. The 
physiological energy spent among the nerve cells can- 
not be estimated by the value which we, as educated 
persons, put upon the usefulness of the action. 

It may be doubted whether we can determine the 
quantity of mental action occurring in a given time, 
or whether any unit for quantitative comparison exists ; 
this cannot be represented by the value of the work 
done. It is only the portion of mental action which is 
expressed that we can estimate quantitatively, not the 
quantity of brain action ; many thoughts may arise 
and be inhibited in the brain and so not expressed ; 
in some difficult processes of thinking this occurs to a 
large extent, especially in original work and in thinking 
out cause and effect, or in seeking illustrative exam- 
ples. The time and the order of succession and coup- 
ling of mental acts has more to do with the character 



MENTAL EXHAUSTION 1 83 

of mental processes than the quantity of brain energy- 
expended. 

Thoughts of real value, like actions, depend on their 
coordination by circumstances, not upon the degree of 
brain work expended. Estimation of the value of in- 
tellectual acts differs in the child and adult so greatly 
as to make comparison difficult; they may, however, 
be more easily contrasted ; in the child the impressions 
retained are less exact than in the adult, while spon- 
taneity is more abundant, and may interfere with any 
established order of thoughts. Spontaneous thoughts 
mean brain work and add to mental fatigue. Effective 
training tends to lessen fatigue and strengthens the 
brain for future work. Children who have but few 
established modes of thought, but many spontaneous 
thinkings, may become exhausted by their own im- 
aginations ; this not uncommonly occurs with lonely, 
unoccupied children. 

A boy who has not acquired the habit of keeping 
a memorandum of the lessons to be prepared at home 
is worried from having forgotten some of the books 
wanted; his master does not trouble his memory, but 
keeps a memorandum of the class subjects for each 
day. The boy may think the most about the lessons, 
but the master is more methodical, and gives the pupil 
an imposition to quicken his memory. I think the 
girls in English high schools have too many written- 
out exercises to do at home, 



1 84 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

From the point of view of mental hygiene, attention 
and mental confusion may be contrasted, together with 
the means of cultivating the former and avoiding the 
latter. 

In making observations for the purpose of deter- 
mining the modes of brain action corresponding to a 
mental act of attention, we must directly observe the 
motor expressions in the child. 

Spontaneous movement is equally characteristic of 
young animals and young children. A dog going out 
for a walk with his master evinces his joy in spon- 
taneity by running in the field and making ever wider 
circles or ellipses ; he may return to his master and 
then recommence his career, till, seeing a cow, he barks 
at her, but is again recalled by his master's voice ; 
at length he runs at the cow and teases her. 

Spontaneous action is here the primary mode of 
energy displayed, it becomes controlled and coordinated 
partly by the master's voice, in part by sight of the cow; 
these controlling forces act in different proportion. 

Similar spontaneous action in the cellular structure 
of plants produces those organised movements which 
minister to the needs of seedlings. Charles Darwin has 
described the movements of the root of a seedling 
wandering in ellipses, though slowly as compared with 
spontaneous movement in a child. If the root presses 
against a stone the apex moves away from the ob- 
struction, but bends towards any crevice in the soil and 



MENTAL CONFUSION 1 85 

into the dampest parts. The little root is constantly 
moving, and is sensitive to touch and to dampness, 
which guide its action to its advantage by controlling 
spontaneous action in its cell growth. (See Darwin on 
" Movements of Plants," pp. 420, 427.) 

The modes of brain action may not be sufficiently 
well balanced, or proportioned, at the stage of evolu- 
tion of the child, to allow of uniform or prolonged 
attention. A pupil may at times show marked mental 
confusion and make an absurd reply to a question. 
This may arise from several causes. 

1. When a spreading area of spontaneous action in 
the brain is indicated by fidgeting while the child turns 
his head and his fingers twitch, he may ejaculate words 
irrelevant to your question ; yet thoughts may be aris- 
ing, though not under your direction ; still, all thinkings 
are of value. Such spreading and spontaneous brain 
action should not be entirely suppressed, but show that 
further training is needed. 

2. Eye-movements must be educated in order that 
the impressions received by the brain may be exact. 
When a child is working an addition sum, as the eyes 
move to successive figures in a column an extra or lat- 
eral eye-movement may bring into view the wrong fig- 
ure and lead to confusion. (Training eye-movements, 
see Chapter VII., p. 145.) 

3. In reading, eye-movements may similarly bring 
the wrong line into view. 



1 86 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

4. In writing, the pupil may copy the line above in 
place of continuing his exercise. 

5. Confusion may arise from the question being 
only partially heard, as from deafness ; if the child be 
also short sighted his difficulties are greatly increased 
in receiving teaching by demonstration. 

6. Rapid action of the heart with a quick pulse is 
common in nervous children, and may be accompanied 
by other conditions of importance to health. Such dis- 
turbance of the circulation may produce marked mental 
confusion. 1 

7. Sometimes an answer is irrelevant to the ques- 
tion put, yet contains the reply to a former question, 
as to which a train of thought has continued. Such 
delayed expression of thought is not a mindless condi- 
tion, but shows an untrained mode of mental action. 
Brain training may do much to prevent mental confu- 
sion and increase the power of attention. 

Memory depends upon reactivity of the impressions 
previously made upon the brain, these impressions re- 
turning in activity as a series in the same order as that 
in which they were produced originally. Thus, the 
child, when directed to do so, repeats the numerals in 
their order of succession as previously taught. This 
— as a matter of physiological action — depends upon 
the (cohesion) exactness of the impressions retained, 
and upon the adhesion of those impressions, so that 

References 34, 35. 



FIXED MENTAL IMPRESSIONS 1 87 

energy flows along the prearranged nerve paths from 
the brain centre stimulated by your direction to re- 
peat the lesson, to those centres which were im- 
pressed in succession by previous teaching. Such 
forms of speech and of memory remind us of the exact 
reproduction of a speech on a phonograph, where the 
dents made on the wax are retained, and reproduce in 
their former order the vibrations causing sound, without 
vibration or adaptability — no interaction occurs among 
the impressions on the wax. 

Overtaxing the memory and producing too many 
fixed impressions may to a certain extent lessen mental 
adaptability, and while fixing a certain number of ideas 
limit free mental power. The same thing is seen in re- 
gard to movements ; military drill produces precision 
and quickness for some kinds of action, rather than 
adaptiveness and grace of movement under varying 
circumstances. 

A boy when riding is thrown from his horse; a per- 
manent mental impression remains, and ever after re- 
curs at the sight of his saddle-horse : such impression 
did not occur on commencing his ride before the acci- 
dent. This exemplifies a very firm act of the memory. 

A strong mental impression may be made without any 
accompanying outward expression at the time. Take 
an example : a man is told that he cannot live another 
year on account of some disease. He may sit quite 
still as he is told this and make no reply, but the care- 



1 88 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

ful observer may see his face grow pale, the respirations 
quickened and the brows knit, possibly with some de- 
pression of the angles of the mouth at the thought of 
mental distress and suffering to come. His subsequent 
acts, rather than his present expression, will indicate the 
strength of the impression made. 

Impressionability is not quite the same thing as mem- 
ory. A reflex action results from some external stim- 
ulus, an impression is produced at the moment, but this 
is not necessarily retained. A sudden flash of light 
causes reflex contraction of the pupil and closure of 
the eyelids; but the impression is not registered in 
the brain and remembered. 

At least two different kinds of mental activity are 
called "memory": (i) the simple reception and re- 
tention of an impression, almost without any interac- 
tion among brain centres resulting ; (2) a more active 
process in the brain involving both the retention of 
impressions and their interaction, while certain es- 
tablished modes of brain action supervene correspond- 
ing to fixed principles and directions of thought. This 
implies much the same kind of mental action as what 
is called " adhesiveness " by Prof. A. Bain. In the 
simplest act of memory a sensory impress produces 
a simple reflex mechanism ; a question is asked, the 
answer as formerly taught is repeated ; the object is 
seen, then named. This is often called verbal memory. 

This simple form of memory as a mode of brain 



CULTIVATION OF MEMORY 1 89 

action may be cultivated in physical exercises in imi- 
tation of your movements ; the series is learned by prac- 
tice, and soon becomes repeated with exactness. (See 
Chapter VII.) In such training it is of course neces- 
sary to use the same precision and accuracy in the 
order of repetition as you would employ in teaching 
by words. This mode of memory differs from those 
required in advanced mental processes, where it is 
necessary to call up fixed modes of brain action previ- 
ously established, and arrange impressions received 
by observation on a fixed plan. Thus the use of the 
numerals and the methods of counting being estab- 
lished among the acquired brain processes, compari- 
sons may be made and proportions described by the 
use of numbers. Objects may be classed according 
to the number of their parts and as to their propor- 
tions after the methods used in systematic botany. 1 

The higher forms of memory for trains of thought 
and reasoning demand, among other qualities, the 
simpler forms of memory. 

Different modes of cultivating memory are required 
according to the pupil's stage of mental development ; 
sometimes simple means must be used for implant- 
ing knowledge of the facts learned, while others in- 
crease the natural retention and adhesiveness of brain 
impressions and lead to memory for associated ideas, 
or, as we may say, a series of mental acts. Thus the 

1 See Catalogue of Examples, " Mental Faculty," pp. 163-212. 



I QO THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

mental power of memory may be acquired both to 
retain impressions in the brain, and also to compare 
these memories one with another, and class them ac- 
cording to their resemblances and differences. The 
mental processes of analysis and analogy may then 
be performed among impressions remembered. 

In social life, faces are remembered and associated 
with a conversation ; a boy seeing his master may 
remember some forgotten duty ; the surgeon recog- 
nises a patient by the scar left after operation, and 
recalls all the details of the case. Some persons can 
remember trains of argument better than isolated 
facts and names. 

Defect of memory or forgetfulness may be due to 
the causes of mental confusion. The original im- 
pressions may not have been sufficiently clear and 
exact ; then it may be well in training to produce 
analogous impressions through the eye, the ear, and 
by muscle sense. Thus each numeral may be taught 
as a word separately, while the child looking at your 
face imitates your pronunciation ; then appreciation 
of number may be taught by seeing together a number 
of objects corresponding to the numeral, as beads 
upon a frame ; and again by hand movements in 
pointing with the finger, or by eye-movements as in 
counting at sight several objects placed some distance 
apart. After this the numerals may be repeated in 
order and thus connected as a series. 



REVERSION AND CHILDISHNESS 191 

Reversion to childish states of brain and break- 
down in mental health under stress of circumstances 
may produce grave mental disabilities. 1 The general 
characters of the brain are very different in the degree 
of their development in infancy and at ten years of 
age ; during infancy spontaneity in movement is the 
chief characteristic. This mode of brain action be- 
comes gradually organised under good training so that 
its functions are adapted by impressions through the 
senses. In the adult, spontaneity of the brain cen- 
tres during health is expressed rather in thoughts 
than in movements, and much of the motor action 
is seen in small movements, well controlled ; as in 
the tongue and face in speaking, and the fingers in 
writing, each expressing mental action. If we look 
at examples in the stages of infancy, early youth, 
and full development, we should find movement dis- 
played at each successive stage, but with some differ- 
ences in the proportion of motor action to the amount 
of brain energy expended in the process of thought (psy- 
chosis) ; this proportion represents an interesting and 
important change of function during brain evolution. 

Reversion among animals and plants is the ten- 
dency sometimes manifested to assume the modes of 
growth or habits of some ancestor ; such reversions 
are especially apt to occur under conditions of low 
health and diminished nutrition. 

1 Reference 49. 



192 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

In school children and in adults reversion to a 
" childish condition " is not uncommon. After mental 
fatigue and when needing food, a child may become 
almost infantile in his peevishness and irritability with 
want of capacity for control ; his utterances are dis- 
jointed, his movements fidgety, and sometimes hardly 
enough under control even to take his meal. (See Chap- 
ter V., p. 101.) The child presents much spontaneous 
incoordinated movement like a baby, and is not guided 
by his surroundings, and therefore is inharmonious with 
his environment. Rest, feeding, and sleep recreate his 
brain power and restore a placid and active mental 
status. 

Reversion occurs in mental action when a former 
thought or series of thoughts arises; old thoughts 
revert to activity in dreams, in delirium, as wild 
thoughts which rush through the brain in times of 
weakness. Return of thoughts depends upon the reac- 
tivity of certain brain centres; the process of recalling 
thoughts has been considered in speaking of voluntary 
power. 

The reactivity of past thoughts is by no means sim- 
ply due to spontaneous action in the brain. Sight of 
certain objects, old letters, written words, and books 
may revive former thoughts, long absent. 

Thoughts altogether spontaneous resemble the 
modes of brain action evinced in spontaneous bodily 
movements, such as are seen in the poorly nourished 



MENTAL REVERSION 1 93 

brain of the patient ill with fever, who in his delirium 
ejaculates words and picks the bedclothes with his 
fingers. 1 

The revival of former thoughts often replaces the 
activity of those of recent date ; this corresponds to the 
inactivity of recent impressions, or, it may be, to their 
dissolution. Replacement of thoughts implies proba- 
bly in many instances dissolution of existing unions of 
nerve cells, the nerve paths which connected them hav- 
ing disappeared, thus setting the nerve cells free to 
enter into new combinations. In a brain with healthy 
activity, reversion of spontaneity during a period of 
rest may lead to the dissolution of a line of thoughts, 
resulting in greater freedom either for the reception of 
new impressions or the revival of former ones. The 
writer lays aside his work and observes those around 
him, or joins in general conversation. 

1 Reversion in illness. See "Anatomy of Movement," Chapter III. 
o 



CHAPTER X 
Mental Hygiene and Voluntary Mental Power 

Mental action as a physiological process occurring in 
the brain (psychosis) is known to us only by inference 
from our observation of its expression. We all know 
that mental action may take place without immediate 
expression; we believe that many thoughts occur in 
children's heads that are not expressed; hence much 
trouble has been taken by many workers in child- 
study to get at the contents of their minds. Mental 
processes leading to expression are capable of ob- 
servation ; we find in childhood mental healthiness 
and aptitude or mental disorderliness and inaptitude. 
These subjects for inquiry may be pursued on the 
principles laid down in studying the visible characters 
of brain action, and afford a basis of mental hygiene 
which may be followed after the methods of other 
natural sciences by observation, description, analysis, 
and inference, leading to generalisations from experi- 
ence. (See Chapter V., p. 103.) 

A large field for observation and study is thus 
opened up as supplemental and co-relative to the 
physiological aspect of mental training and school 
life ; while school hygiene, in its purely physical as- 

194 



MENTAL APTITUDE 1 95 

pects, deals with health culture and the prevention of 
disease. Among other sections of mental hygiene 1 
we may study : — 

Mental aptitudes and mental disabilities ; or causes 
of mental dulness in children. (See Chapter III.) 

Mental weariness and brain fatigue. 

Mental confusion and observed concomitant condi- 
tions. (See Chapter I., p. 15.) 

Defects of memory and the means of removing 
them. 

Reversion in mental status and childish faults. (See 
Chapter IX., p. 191.) 

Mental breakdown at adolescence, and its connec- 
tion with previous training. 

Mental aptitude, or the capacity for mental training, 
is indicated in a child in whom we observe spontaneity 
of action easily controlled through the senses and regu- 
lated by impressions received; much spontaneous ac- 
tion, liveliness of facial expression, talkativeness, with 
capacity to follow organised games and occupations, 
are hopeful signs. When these are accompanied by 
good imitative power in action and in speech, with 
retention of what has been acquired, and increasingly 
exact repetition after practice, the indications of edu- 
cable brain power are distinctly present. The culti- 
vation of each individual sign of such aptitude, first 

1 I here quote from my recent article contributed to the Lancet. 
London, April 29, 1899. 



196 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

separately, then collectively, may be advisable ; this is 
specially the case where one item is deficient, as, for 
example, where some form of spontaneity is not easily 
coordinated, it may be restless eye-movements or finger 
twitches, which lead to incorrect observation and poor 
manipulative ability. These points I have described 
in detail. (See Chapter III.) 

Mental hygiene, as a science, demands some know- 
ledge of the physiological action occurring in the brain 
during various mental processes, as well as appreciation 
of the general status of the pupil's brain in which such 
action is observed. The special modes of action ob- 
served may be satisfactory or disorderly ; while, the 
status of his brain is indicated by its general characters 
as being normal or subnormal. 

Will and the power of volition are foundations of 
character. The term " voluntary power" is conven- 
ient as a label for a certain kind of action of which we 
all know something. As I do not admit, for the pur- 
poses of scientific investigation, that consciousness and 
volition are causes of visible action, it will be necessary 
to trace the processes occurring in the brain (psychosis) 
corresponding to what is commonly and conveniently 
termed voluntary power or action, and also to study 
and become familiar with their modes of expression. 

Various modes of voluntary action may be analysed 
as to their expression, and the brain action correspond- 
ing may be inferred. Actions admitted to be volun- 



VOLUNTARY POWER 1 97 

tary may be contrasted with others which are clearly 
involuntary. Examples of children may be considered 
in whom volitional power is seen, and contrasted with 
others in whom it is absent or but slightly marked. 

Voluntary action may be motor or mental ; the child 
may do something to please you, or he may keep quiet 
for a minute to think what he ought to do next and 
how to set about it. When a physical excercise is per- 
formed as a series of movements, following a command 
but without further direction, motor voluntary action is 
seen. When the pupil reads his lesson, persistently 
suppressing all thoughts that arise other than those 
guided by the book, voluntary mental power is exerted. 
The boy may think out some " reason why " in his head, 
without looking at book or paper and without visible 
expression in action. 

Voluntary action is mostly an expression of antece- 
dent brain impressions reviving to activity and interact- 
ing among themselves, independent of present guidance. 
It seems to depend upon brain organisation, evolved or 
built up by training, as well as upon some spontaneity ; 
there is a revival to an active state of previous impres- 
sions acquired which become arranged in an orderly man- 
ner, and interact and control one another after modes 
previously established. (See Chapter VIII., p. 171.) 

Voluntary power is in great part dependent upon the 
general characters of brain action previously acquired, 
as well as upon experience. (See Chapter II.) 



1 98 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

Spontaneity plays a part in voluntary action ; occur- 
ring independently of present stimulation or guidance, 
activity in the brain centres originates the action with- 
out impress through the senses. The boy, having com- 
pleted his exercise, gets up, without direction, and puts 
away his books. Again, spontaneity may interfere with 
what we call voluntary action, seen in extra movements 
and fidgetiness, or disconnected thoughts arise in the 
brain through the want of control and guidance. 

Impressionability of the brain in various forms is 
necessary to the acquisition of voluntary power; but, 
during purely voluntary thought, it is the interaction 
going on among the brain centres, independent of ex- 
ternal stimulus, that characterises the mode of action. 
In fact, if there be much impression by the environ- 
ment, this is opposed to purely voluntary self-control. 

Inhibition. — We speak of " concentrating the atten- 
tion " in voluntary thinking. Among other points this 
signifies inhibition of spontaneous movements as well 
as thoughts arising which are not connected with (ad- 
herent to) those in the direct line of thought. This 
inhibition in physiological action is produced by the 
activity of the brain centres corresponding to a domi- 
nant established principle, or a previous direction. In- 
hibition is the faculty continuously exerted by the 
primary impression or direction of thought in prevent- 
ing action of the brain centres arising spontaneously 
from sending out force to the muscles producing ex- 



BRAIN ACTION AND VOLITION 1 99 

pression. Then the centres act among themselves by 
their nerve paths, and those that have often been con- 
nected before are reassociated as formerly; thoughts 
become arranged and connected, making a plan for 
action. The child is quiet for a moment, thinking out 
his sentence, then he writes it down ; during thought, 
certain nerve centres become temporarily connected for 
action in a certain order and remain active, while the 
others, not stimulated by the "dominant idea," subside 
into inactivity. Exercise of the will in suppressing 
spontaneous thoughts that arise leads after a time to 
the visible signs of fatigue, showing that the mental 
effort corresponds to physical brain action. Once ac- 
quired, the habit of inhibition by the employment of 
established principles and directions saves much fatigue 
in the future. (See Chapter VII., p. 155.) 

Control through the senses and by muscle sense in 
training does much to cultivate voluntary power. The 
impressions made on the brain must be definite and 
exact, not merely the impress of words. Directions 
(verbal) should be precise, and where possible should 
correspond to and be coupled with physical impres- 
sions; thus they become more permanent than direc- 
tions merely verbal. For the purpose of cultivating 
voluntary power in estimating proportion — and in- 
directly the value of things — training should be prac- 
tised with weights in the hands, say, one-half, one, two 
ounces, and the names and numbers expressing these 



200 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

weights should be connected with the proportion of 
muscle tension resulting from holding them ; thus pro- 
portional impressions are received in the pupil's brain, 
and a standard for comparison is impressed and retained 
which may revive in voluntary action. (See Chapter 
VII., p. 155.) A scale or standard of measurement may 
be established in the brain by practice in estimating the 
length of horizontal lines drawn on the blackboard and 
others placed vertically by means of the eye-movements ; 
or the length of sticks by measurement with the hands. 
In each case physical effects of proportional action are 
produced which may be coupled with terms of expres- 
sion, and used in forming a voluntary judgment in other 
matters. 

Some faculty for voluntary processes of thought and 
comparison is thus implanted in the child's brain. Many 
of the modes of action that need training through sen- 
sory impressions might be described. The results of 
training, when established, easily revive to activity, fol- 
lowing a single dominant thought or direction from the 
teacher. The directions employed in previous teach- 
ing, if firmly retained after practice, may, like physical 
impressions, be easily revived to activity, and take 
part in brain action during processes of voluntary or 
self-contained thinking. 

Thus the brain, acting under a single direction or 
dominant thought, and without receiving present im- 
pressions from without, may be the seat of reviving 



MENTAL HABITS 201 

sensory impressions coupled in succession with the 
terms of direction ; the nerve centres in the brain that 
have been trained or coordinated react one after an- 
other, and they become arranged in order for expres- 
sion. After thinking what to do, or what to write, a 
long series of connected acts or a written paragraph 
may follow. This result can only be obtained after 
training and practice. 

Established modes of brain action are needed, such 
as methods of procedure, e.g. methods of examining 
flowers as taught by the use of a schedule (see Chapter 
VIII., p. 172); the use of numbers to be coupled with 
things or acts; modes of noting and describing the 
order of events and their sequences ; standards of com- 
parison and expression for numbers, weight, measure- 
ment of length, surface, volume ; modes of estimating 
ratio and proportion, and their expression. 

All these modes of action in the brain come into 
useful employment. Voluntary action in home lessons 
is not necessarily produced under immediate and pres- 
ent continued guidance of a teacher, as it is in class 
teaching. Preparation work affords some opportunity 
for spontaneity ; the inaccuracies may show the teacher 
in what particulars the class teaching has failed with 
the individual pupil to produce one particular mode 
of procedure. In so far as the pupil's action is self- 
contained, and not dependent upon guidance, it is 
spontaneous ; while, as the result of previous training, 



202 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

brain organisation has been built up and leads to the 
action of one established act or mode of procedure 
after another. 

Coordination. — I think it will be found by teachers 
that the pupils well trained in all the general char- 
acters of brain action, by means of physical exercises 
and in particular in coordinated movements, acquire 
the modes of voluntary power better and more easily 
than others in whom such training has been neglected. 
From what has been said it follows that class work 
under guidance trains method and gives exactness; 
while voluntary work at home cultivates the coordi- 
nation of spontaneous mental activity. Voluntary co- 
ordinated action has a foundation in spontaneity trained 
to orderly procedure. 

Spreading brain action may interfere with steady 
volitional power. A butterfly comes in at the window, 
the sight controls all the boy's action as he chases it. 
The impression of want of food is felt, and the lesson 
is forgotten. The thought of the playground occurs, 
and the game is followed in imagination. But spread- 
ing brain action may be started by some portion of 
the lesson. When writing the description of a pea- 
flower, in place of following the directions of the 
schedule the child may think, "Why do insects visit 
the flowers ? " then he thinks of the butterflies and 
how they fly, and that the wings of the insect look 
like the alae of the (papilionaceous) flower, so he loses 



WANDERING THOUGHTS 203 

time and does not write a good exercise — but he 
thinks. 

Such wandering thoughts in the pupil are not well 
coordinated voluntary action ; but if this spreading 
area of thought can be guided, the process may be- 
come useful. The boy at his Euclid may give a 
different demonstration to that he has been taught. 
Spreading area of thought is necessary in finding an 
illustrative example for an essay; many arise, one is 
selected as being in harmony with the subject in 
hand. 

Response may be delayed, yet the action may be 
voluntary; the fact of an interval between direction 
and response, when the action required is complicated 
and in no way a repetition of the direction, may be 
looked upon as a voluntary intelligent act. " Direc- 
tion — dissect the parts of that plant and arrange them 
for demonstration." There may be an interval during 
the period of thinking how to begin ; then the work pro- 
ceeds stage by stage without further guidance and is 
recognised as intelligent and voluntary. 

We may now briefly trace the evolution of the 
signs of voluntary power from infancy. At birth the 
infant does not show evidence of voluntary power ; 
certain reflex actions occur, and a spreading area of 
movement is seen in crying; spontaneous movements 
indicate much separate action of the various brain 
centres, with but little impressionability and little 



204 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

power of control. At about four months old sensory 
impressions are followed by momentary inhibition of 
movement, and a little later, such control is followed 
by some coordinated act, as the object shown is 
grasped. As yet we see no indication of anything 
that can properly be called a voluntary action depend- 
ing upon the interaction of impressions received. 

A few months later, but before the acquisition of 
speech, choice may be made between two objects pre- 
sented; one only is taken hold of, or if both are 
grasped, one is dropped, and the other retained. One 
impression by sight proves stronger than the other; 
this is perhaps the earliest kind of action that can be 
termed voluntary — there is interaction among the brain 
centres, and the stronger impression is expressed in 
action. 

Various kinds of action in a child are characterised 
as voluntary, such as action following a word of com- 
mand ; complex series of acts adapted by the environ- 
ment, and therefore in harmony with it, controlled 
through the eye, the ear, or by the muscle sense; 
also well-adapted speech. Volitional action usually 
depends upon antecedent impressions, associated and 
adherent, as well as upon some spontaneity bringing 
them into activity. 

Many modes of brain action are contributory to vol- 
untary power following experience and practice in trac- 
ing out the order of observations and events, or the 



OBSERVATION AND COMPARISON 205 

cause and effect. In such mental processes there is 
interaction among brain centres, not under present 
guidance from the outside, yet capable of impressiona- 
bility. Many brain impressions spontaneously recur- 
ring to an active condition become arranged and 
rearranged according to their adhesiveness, as in pro- 
cesses of comparison and classification. 

Choice and comparison are examples of voluntary 
power; the former is simple, the latter needs cultiva- 
tion in many ways, each of which must be trained. 
(See Chapters I., p. 14; VII., p. 155.) Simple compari- 
son may be made as to agreement or difference, among 
objects seen or others previously observed, in the degree 
of the weight of each, in the impressions received (by 
muscle sense) in measurement ; in either case it is 
the impressions made in the pupil's brain that are 
compared, and these, when revived to activity, may 
lead to comparison and an expression of proportion, 
as he writes a description of what he has seen and 
what he thinks. In teaching habits of observation, 
each physical impression made through the senses 
should be exact and definite. The pupil's description 
of his observations in class may be written as a home 
lesson ; there will be a pause sometimes in his writing, 
for the revival of the impressions previously received ; 
mistakes may occur from not having received firm im- 
pressions in class coupled with the terms of descrip- 
tion. These periods of stopping to think may be too 



206 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

prolonged; both physical and mental training may 
quicken all the general modes of brain action, and 
improve the mental processes. 

The general modes of brain action all come into 
play in establishing voluntary power ; they interact in 
various ways. In the school child who has acquired 
orderly habits under training, certain modes of action 
are established; groups of brain centres have been so 
far connected by nerve paths that they tend to act in 
a fixed order. 

Common examples of established modes of action 
may be mentioned : the salute on meeting teacher is 
an acquired habit; names of classmates are known; 
the numerals and the methods of counting have been 
learned; experience has been gained of a bad mark 
for late attendance; the names and sight of buns and 
cake for lunch have been retained. The boy enter- 
ing the schoolroom before work begins recognises 
the master, then proceeds to count his fellow pupils 
present by their names without giving expression, 
names the rest to himself as being likely to receive 
a bad mark, thinks of his lunch and selects cake for 
his penny. Former impressions interact with those 
produced through his senses in such voluntary think- 
ing as is indicated. 

The voluntary character of action does not so much 
depend upon the order of acts and thoughts, and 
their arrangement, as upon their independence of 



VOLUNTARY ACTION AND THOUGHT 207 

present stimulus or guidance from the outside ; vol- 
untary thoughts may be sequential or disconnected, 
but are usually related to certain antecedents. 

Coordinated action is characterised by relations in 
the time and order of individual acts, and the degree 
of each act being in due proportion ; this may take 
place under control of the present environment or be 
established as a fixed mode of brain action following 
from practice. 

Intellectual action is indicated mainly by the order 
in which the thoughts are expressed. Voluntary in- 
tellectual power is the highest attainment to be culti- 
vated. 

We speak of (1) voluntary motor action, (2) volun- 
tary thinking without expression, (3) voluntary thought 
and its expression. In giving illustrations each mode 
of voluntary power may be exemplified, as they are 
much associated. 

Direct the child to write a description of what he 
did during the previous day. He sits down to his 
work and remains quiet for a while, thinking ; the im- 
pression of the direction is followed in his brain ac- 
tion by revival of the visual and auditory impressions 
previously received; these, then, adhere in the order 
of their succession, showing that the order of their 
reception was retained. Many points which produced 
but little impression are omitted from his description, 
such as getting up and going to bed. His own 



208 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

thoughts are hardly indicated, school teaching is not 
referred to; but points in home life and at play, as 
well as what he saw in the streets and the shops, 
are described. 

It may be said that obedience should be voluntary 
and prompt; perhaps it is more prompt in school, 
and though less exact and quick, more voluntary in 
the home. 

A boy after school is asked to go skating. The 
word skating is followed in his mental action by the 
revived activity of impressions formerly made in his 
brain ; also other impressions experienced revive : the 
direction of his father to come straight home after 
school; the impression of the dinner which will not 
wait for him, and the story book at home — all these 
impressions become active; father's directions, dinner, 
story book, adhere as a series in his brain, together 
with a former experience of the ice breaking on the 
pond. Experience aids voluntary power. Impres- 
sions (verbal) of the abstract principles of obedience 
and duty do not arise till, after walking home, he sees 
his mother. The boy's conduct, which we call volun- 
tary, depended upon many previous impressions re- 
vived in his brain which recurred in a series, as the 
effect of training these controlled his action when no 
words of direction were heard. 

Voluntary action, as thus illustrated, occurs in the 
healthy brain which, under experience and training, 



IMPRESS OF VERBAL DIRECTIONS 209 

has received and retained a number of fixed impres- 
sions, but they must be definite physical impressions, 
not merely produced by words. These are repre- 
sented in the brain by groups of nerve cells tending 
to act together (diatactic unions), and they are con- 
nected by nerve paths with other such groups, so that 
energy habitually tends to flow in fixed directions, 
even when no sensory stimulus is acting. It is mainly 
the interaction of such groups of nerve cells formed 
by sensory impressions that leads to the earlier mani- 
festations of voluntary power. 

I cannot define "volition" and "will" in physio- 
logical terms, but we may trace the modes of brain 
action which lead to voluntary power and thought. 
The general characters of healthy brain action all 
help : groups of brain cells in the highest parts of 
the brain (the cortex) in their activity correspond to 
thoughts; these when active may be coordinated or 
controlled by sight and by the sound of words previ- 
ously familiar. 

Impressions thus arising spontaneously, or produced 
through the senses on the brain, may adhere by the 
formation of nerve paths, so as to occur after practice 
in the order in which they were established. 

The impressions made by your directions, often re- 
peated, may similarly revive and become connected 
in the child's head, and guide his thinking when he 
is alone. Capacity for choice, mental comparison, and 



210 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

established modes of (logical) thinking may evolve in 
such processes. Thus spontaneity may bring into ac- 
tivity former deeply implanted impressions and guide 
thoughts aright. On the other hand, if no impres- 
sions have been firmly fixed in previous teaching, 
spontaneity may upset all loosely connected thoughts, 
and nothing that can be called voluntary power is 
manifested. The best lines of voluntary power follow 
from well-established mental impressions interacting 
under the influence of the environment. 

Take the case of preparation of lessons at home for 
the next day; it seems to me that they should be 
taught in class and expressed in the home work, to 
exercise voluntary power and allow of some exercise 
of spontaneity. In class discipline the work is done 
under the teacher's observation and guidance ; at 
home the child works alone, or at any rate it is to be 
hoped in quietness, with the help of a time-table and 
the directions previously received, so that self-guid- 
ance comes into play. 

Training is effected by producing impressions on 
the nerve centres of the brain through the senses; 
various concomitants may result from your endeav- 
ours, the mental processes you produce may be exact 
but accompanied by extra brain action, or the pupil's 
response may be a simple reproduction of what he 
had heard before, in place of showing voluntary brain 
power. It is desirable to know the general characters 



SENSORY IMPRESSIONS AND VOLITION 21 1 

of the brain upon which you propose to act and to 
watch the processes that occur in it, not only the 
effects produced by the teaching in ourselves. You 
need to cultivate various capacities in the pupil's 
brain, giving facility to the nerve centres for interac- 
tion and adhesion under the influence of a fixed direc- 
tion, also for the reactivity of former directions 
received and retained, which reviving assist the brain 
processes. Systematic teaching, long continued, tends 
to cultivate certain forms of self-government or vol- 
untary power. 

In cultivating voluntary power distinct sensory im- 
pressions are to be produced by various adaptations 
of your method. The order of associated impressions 
is important, and tends to be retained in the brain, 
while it is strengthened by repetition ; coordination 
trained by physical exercises will cultivate this men- 
tal faculty. Associated impressions when firmly re- 
tained revive in the same connection as a form of 
self-contained action. Retention of the order in which 
the pupil has made his observations has much to do 
with his logical thinking, and understanding antece- 
dents and sequents, or cause and effect. Retention 
of the order of the numerals and of the weights com- 
pared and expressed by use of the numerals is neces- 
sary to mental estimation of weight, bulk, mass of 
objects, and also to appreciation of the probable value 
of quantities of materials seen. The money values 



212 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

of one pound of tea and ten pounds are in direct 
proportion to the weight of the shillings expended in 
their purchase. 

Spreading brain area and excess of spontaneity 
need control in voluntary action ; inhibition of spon- 
taneous thought as a self-contained power is culti- 
vated by temporary inhibition of movements in 
physical training, which is best brought about by ac- 
tion imitated from the teacher in momentary quiet- 
ness. In voluntary power wandering thoughts can 
be controlled by recalling directions given, or the 
dominant thought of the exercise in hand, as during 
home lessons. 

Some children are quick mentally, but " scatter- 
brained," others are plodding and slow in response. 
In some, will power is naturally strong with persist- 
ent self-contained purpose ; while others are docile, 
but seem to have no fixed ideas ; some reproduce 
knowledge acquired like a phonograph without any 
apparent effort, or any secondary thoughts arising. 
Intellectual faculty is not necessarily accompanied 
by self-determination, and voluntary action may 
become almost automatic from constant repetition. 
Voluntary power is not one brain faculty, but is 
based on many faculties which need to be balanced 
in training. The child first learns to make a choice; 
then we see indications of brain impressions retained, 
and established modes of brain action ; while princi- 



SELF-CONTROL AND HEALTH 213 

pies in thought become evolved, with capacity to 
recall and retain previous directions in a certain 
order. 

Cultivate the habit of suppressing spontaneous 
thoughts not associated with the dominant work in 
hand, while connecting such as arise in harmony with 
the direction received and previous training and ex- 
perience; this may be educated by training the gen- 
eral characters of brain action already described, and 
build up a voluntary power of use in the duties of 
life. 

Volitional power varies with physical health. A 
good state of general health raises will power; low 
diet lessens it. A slight degree of lowered nutrition 
impairs voluntary strength; so may mental fatigue, in 
which condition spontaneity is apt to supersede it, 
and if exhaustion supervenes, coordination both men- 
tal and motor may be replaced by much disorderliness 
of brain function. 

Voluntary action, when it is independent of strong 
stimulation, is mainly due to the experience of past im- 
pressions in the brain ; if these are but few, volitional 
power is low and quickly fades. A strong exercise of 
the will in concentrating attention and in acting on 
fixed principles, even against the distractions of cir- 
cumstances, involves an amount of real brain effort 
which can produce the visible signs of fatigue. 

Action resulting from strong present stimulation is 



214 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE CHILD 

sometimes called voluntary : a moth settles on the 
paper as I write, I carry it to the window and set it 
free, at once it flies back to the lighted lamp and gets 
burned. It was not the moth's will, but the light of the 
lamp that controlled the movements. Certain move- 
ments are classed as voluntary ; it may be remarked 
that growth is never said to be voluntary, not even 
when its results are as wonderful as those producing 
the most complex actions seen in seedling plants. 1 

Certain classes of movements are not called voluntary, 
such as : — 

i. Acts performed during sleep or when other in- 
dications of absence of consciousness are observed. 

2. Simple reflex actions : as closure of the eyelids 
when the eyeball is touched. Such acts are uniformly 
repeated on stimulation, without signs of interaction 
among the brain centres. (See Chapter IV., p. 75.) 

3. Respiratory movements when uniform, as in 
quiet breathing, are not voluntary, but these may be 
quickened and altered in their rhythm under emotion. 

4. Uniformly repeated movement, such as walking, 
which is continued under the control of muscle sense 
without much guidance through the senses. 

5. Speech, when merely ejaculatory and discon- 
nected, as in delirium. 

6. Movements that appear to be spontaneous, 

1 See "Anatomy of Movement and Modes of Growth," Chapter II. 
The Macmillan Company 



OBEDIENCE AND ORIGINALITY 21 5 

neither resulting from past impressions reviving to 
activity nor controlled by present sensory stimulation, 
such as those of earliest infancy. (See " Reversion of 
Spontaneity," Chapter IX., p. 191.) 

In some children, who may be said to be well trained 
and obedient, voluntary power is not what it should be ; 
it may be prompt, accurate, uniform upon similar occa- 
sions, yet so far mechanical that the individual child is 
obviously deficient in adaptiveness and want of true 
self-reliance. Certain fixed modes of brain action have 
been established and retained ; the pupil does as he 
has been taught to do under certain circumstances 
apparently voluntarily, at any rate without much guid- 
ance, yet under a new set of circumstances he is help- 
less and has but little power to act for himself. Such a 
child is wanting in spontaneity and originality through 
having been too much trained in one direction, leaving 
him with too little experience of the circumstances of 
life, and but little freedom of thought, thus suppress- 
ing what is healthy in free and spontaneous thinking. 

Remember that voluntary mental action may occur 
and thoughts be correctly formed in the mind without 
the power of expressing them. This is often found to 
be the case in children of the nervous type, and in 
pupils not sufficiently acquainted with the use of lan- 
guage for expression. 

A varied environment, and circumstances affording 
opportunities for doing right or wrong in the tempta- 



2l6 SCHOOL LIFE 

tions of school days take their part in developing char- 
acter, and afford scope for the good influences that the 
boys and girls in school may exert over one another. 
The ideas of honour among schoolmates in play are just 
as important as the principles taught in class. At the 
boarding school half holidays out of bounds, and the 
holidays spent at home, show much of the effects of 
training and teaching exemplified in conduct when free 
from restraint. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 



Published Reports. Lectures and Papers by the Author relating 
to the Scientific Study of Children, as referred to in the 
Text. 

For Contributions published 1877 to 1890, see Author's "Mental 
Faculty," Pages 213-215. 

REF. NO. 

1. 1889. Report of the Royal Commission on the Blind, the Deaf 

and Dumb, etc. Vol. III., pp. 698-700. Evidence 
on Weak-minded Children in Public Elementary 
Schools. 
Dictionary of Mental Science. Edited by Dr. Hack 
Tuke. 

2. Article: Movements as signs of mental action. 

3. Article: Postures and muscular balance of the body 

indicative of mental status. 

4. Article : Facial expression. - 

5. Article: Evolution of mental faculty. 

6. Article : Psychosis : the neural acts corresponding to 

mental phenomena. 

7. 1890. Development in relation to brain and nutrition. British 

Medical Journal, August 23. 

8. 1890-91. Report on the Physical and Mental condition of 

fifty thousand children seen in 106 Schools in 
London. Report of Commissioner of Education, 
Washington, Chap. XXX. 

9. 1892. Abstracts of the Milroy Lectures; delivered at the 

217 



2l8 BIBLIOGRAPHY 



Royal College of Physicians, London. "On an 
Inquiry as to the physical and mental condition 
of School Children." Lancet and British Medi- 
cal Journal, March. 

10. 1892. Transactions International Congress of Hygie?ie and 
De?nography, .London. "On the Physical condi- 
tion of children seen in Schools, and the local 
distribution of defective development. " Section : 
Demography. 

n. "On the Scientific observation and study of children 

in schools, and the classes into which they may be 
grouped." Section : Childhood and School Life. 

12. 1892. "On the physical condition of children — with ref- 

erence to the effect of buildings." Transactions 
Satiitary Institute, London, Vol. XIII. 

13. 1892. "A study of the brain and its mental action; with 

inferences as to the nature of certain mental pro- 
cesses." Medical Magazi?ze, London, July. 

14. 1893. "Neural action corresponding to the Mental functions 

of the Brain." Journal of Merit al Science, London, 
January. 

15. 1893. "Results of an inquiry as to the physical and mental 

conditions of Fifty thousand children seen in 106 
schools : with tables." Journal of Royal Statis- 
tical Society, February. 
Reports of a Conwiittee of the British Association 
appointed to investigate Physical and Mental de- 
viations from the normal among children in Public 
Elementary Schools. 

16. 1893. The signs observed and their numerical distribution ; 

also their distribution in groups. 

17. 1894. Dull children and others defective in mental status, 

with recommendations and a form of Certificate. 
A statistical statement of the cases and their dis- 
tribution under Ages and School Standards. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 219 



REF. NO. 



18. 1895. Showing distribution of defects among the Nation- 

alities and Social Classes : England. Also per- 
centage distribution on the numbers seen and 
numbers noted. 

19. 1896. Tables showing distribution of groups of children 

among the Nationalities and Social classes 
arranged under Ages and School Standards. 

20. 1897. Catalogue of 1120 "Exceptional Children 1 ' who re- 

quire special care. Arranged in thirty-four groups 
distributed under Ages and School Standards. 

21. 1898. Exceptional Children as above : showing corelations 

of the main classes of defect in Age groups. 

22. 1899. Exceptional Children : showing the proportion of the 

Primary groups to the Compound groups expressed 
in percentages and distributed in Age groups. 

23. 1894. Deviations from normal development among fifty thou- 

sand children, and their relations with brain dis- 
orderliness, mental dulness, and low nutrition. 
Journal of Anthropological Institute, London, 
February. 

24. 1894. Observation and study of movement and mental status 

in children. Proceedings of the Internalio?ial Con- 
gress of Education, Chicago. 

25. 1894. Lecture on Physical signs of nerve derangement. Clini- 

cal Journal, London, June. 

26. 1894. Report of Committee on Children. Giving definition 

of signs or abnormal points observed in fifty thou- 
sand children. British Medical Journal, July 28. 
International Clinics. Lippincott & Co, Phila- 
delphia. 

27. 1894. Delicate children and their management. Vol. III. 

28. 1895. Brain disorder in School children. Vol. II., Fifth 

Series. 

29. 1896. The Signs to observe in the brain disorders of chil- 

dren. Vol. II., Sixth Series. 



220 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 



30. 1897. 

31. 1897. 

32. 1898. 
33- 1898. 

34. 1899. 

35. 1895. 

36. 1896. 



37- 1896. 



38. 1896. 



39- 



4.0. 



The nature and treatment of Chorea in its various 
types. Vol. I., Seventh Series. 

Congenital defect of the heart and other parts; 
prognosis and treatment. Vol. III., Seventh 
Series. 

Physical signs in examination of brain cases. Vol. 
III., Eighth Series. 

The value of venesection in certain cases of heart 
failure. Vol. IV., Seventh Series. 
Disturbed circulation of the brain. Vol. III., Ninth 

Series. 
Lecture on Heart disease and the Brain. Clinical 

Journal, London, January. 
Report of the Departme?ztal Committee appointed by 
the Local Government Board to inquire as to 
Education of Children under Poor Law Guardians 
in London. 

Evidence as to conditions of the children and those 
feeble-minded. Vol. II., pp. 14-21. 
Report of the Departmental Co?nmittee appointed by 
the Hojne Office on Reformatory and Industrial 
Schools. 

Evidence as to conditions of the children and recom- 
mendations. Vol. II., pp. 1011-1020. 
Eighth Internatio7ial Congress of Hygiene and Demog- 
raphy, Budapest. 

Report of the Committee on Mental and physical 
conditions of children, appointed by the Seventh 
Congress. Transactions, Vol. III., p. 304. 

Demonstration of children under observation. Trans- 
actions, Vol. III., p. 396. 

A method of observing and reporting on mental and 
physical conditions of children. Transactions,^ o\. 
II., p. 621. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 221 



41. 1896. Mental and physical conditions among fifty thousand 

children seen 1 892-1 894 and the methods of study- 
ing recorded observations, with special reference 
to the determination of the causes of mental dul- 
lness and other defects. Journal of Royal Statis- 
tical Society, March. 

42. 1897. On the relations between bodily development, nutrition, 

and brain conditions in their pathological aspects. 
Tram -actions Royal Medico -Chirurgical Society, 
London. 

43. 1897. On mental and physical feebleness, with analysis of 

cases. Lancet, London, February 6. 

44. 1898. Report of the Departmetital Committee appoiiited by 

the Education Department as to Defective and 
Epileptic Children. 
Evidence as to the feeble-minded, Medical advice 
and Statistics. Vol. II., pp. 25-39. 
1899. School World. Macmillan Co. 

45. Physical observation of the boys and girls in school. 

January. 

46. Points for description in observing boys and girls in 

School life. February. 

47. Physiognomical signs, indicating development normal 

or subnormal in boys and girls. March. 

48. Propositions concerning boys and girls in School 

Life. April. 

49. 1899. The mental abilities and disabilities of children. Read 

before the Childhood Society, London. Lancet, 
April 29. 
1899. Cyclopedia of the Diseases of Children. Keating. 
Vol. V. 

50. Scientific study of the mental and physical conditions 

of childhood ; based upon the examination of one 
hundred thousand children. 

51. Neural and mental disorders in children. 



222 BIBLIOGRAPHY 



Twentieth Century Medicine. Neural and mental de- 
fects in childhood. 

Clifford Allbutt's System of Medicine. Dull, Delicate, 
and Nervous Children. 

International Congress of Women, London. Trans- 
actio7is. Teaching children mentally or physically 
defective. 



REF. 


NO. 


52. 


I899. 


53- 


I899. 


54- 


I899. 



INDEX 



Accuracy, in modes of action, 143. 
Act, of attention, 179. 
Action, see Movements. 

compound, of brain, 39, 40. 

coordinated, 207. 

coordinated by sight, 145. 

coordinated through the senses, 
68. 

in cell growth, controlled, 185. 

neuro-muscular, 130. 

spontaneous, see Spontaneous ac- 
tion. 
Acts, not voluntary, 214, 215. 
Addition, 115. 

cause of difficulty in, 13. 

muscle sense in, 38. 
Adhesiveness, a form of mental action, 

188. 
Adolescence, excitement at, 5. 

preparation for, 49. 
Adverse circumstances, 8. 
Age, average, for college, 139. 
Age groups, 49. 
Air, 16. 

pure, 127, 
Amaebae and oxygen, 127. 
Anaemia, 122. 
Analogy, of brain and army, 102, 107. 

of growth and movement, 97. 

of telephone system and brain, 
107. 
Anger, see Passion. 
Antecedents, of a child, 4. 
Anthropometry, 60. 

and development, 60. 
Antihelix, see Pleat of ear. 
Appetite, capricious, 55. 

voracious, 55. 
Aptitude, mental, 177. 



Aptitude, with large brain, 30. 
Arithmetic, to addition, 150. 
Aspects of childhood, 5. 

of teacher and physician, 8. 
Assimilation, 127. 
Associated ideas, memory of, 189. 
Athletics, Grecian, 151. 
Atmosphere in class-room, 127. 
Attention, faculty of, 179. 

first sign of, 35, 36. 

mental, 178. 

not prolonged, 185. 
Awakening, gradual, 123. 

Baby, spreading movement in, 175. 
Back bent, 56. 

in infant, 24. 
Back straight, 130. 
Bain, Professor A., 188. 
Balance, see Postures. 

of hand, 53. 

of hand in sleep, 54. 

of hand, nervous, 55. 

of hand, straight, 53. 

of hand, weak, 54. 
Basis of character, 32. 

for arithmetic, 12. 
Bath, cold, 123. 

Beautiful objects, value of, 126. 
Bell, Sir Charles, description of laugh- 
ter, 87. 
Blood and digestion, 5. 
Blood and oxygen, 5. 
Bodily development and brain activity, 

60. 
Body and brain, 3. 
Book, position of, 129. 
Books, small type, 126. 
Boots, 121. 



223 



224 



INDEX 



Botanical methods, . 9. 

Brain, action on other organs, 117. 

and blood supply, 117. 

and inheritance, 95. 

and muscular exercise, 4. 

and respiration, 4, 5. 

centres act separately, 94. 

controlling nutrition, 4, 5. 

good and bad habits, effect on, 4. 

growth of, 23, 28. 

nutrition and stimulation necessary, 
26. 

reaction on nutrition, 120. 

relation to digestion, 5. 

status normal, 196. 

status of, 32. 

status subnormal, 196. 

training of, 117. 

types of, in family, 95. 

weight, 28. 
Brain action, and attention, 184. 

apart from mind, 4. 

characters of, examples, 108, 109. 

compound, 111. 

disorderly, 89. 

general characters of, 32, 73. 

good modes of, 89. 

not balanced, 185. 

physical and mental effort, 199. 

superfluous, signs of, 13. 

varieties of, 33-46. 
Brain cells, coordinated by sight, 209. 
Brain centres, and nerve paths, 68. 

interaction of, 188-205. 

preadjustment of, 179. 
Brain evolution, influence of home life 
on, 94. 

influence of school life on, 94. 

in nature, 95. 
Brain moods, changing, 3. 

outcome of expressing abilities or 
faults, 3. 
Brain power, evolution of, 94. 
Brain processes, in comparison, 162, 

163. 
Brain pulsation, 175. 
Brain states, and subnormal nerve 

signs, 59. 
Brain weight, adults, 60. 

at seventh year, 60. 



Brain weight at twentieth year, 115. 
Breakfast dietary, 133. 
Burnham, Dr., 128. 
Busts, 125. 

Camper, Pierre, on expression, 86, 88. 
Canine tooth, uncovered on one side 

in grinning, 51. 
Carriage, graceful, 130. 
Case, illustrative, 46, 47. 
Catarrh, and fat, 136. 
Causation, ideas of, 166. 
Centres, interaction of, 198. 

reassociation of, 199. 
Character and training, 95. 
Chart, for description of child, 79, 80. 

of child of nervous type, 90-93. 
Chest, capacious, 131. 

description of, 28. 

measurements of, 28. 
Child, at school, description of, 48. 

clothing of, 121. 

cross, 119. 

evolution of, 94. 

good habits in, 120. 

in sleep, 122. 

nervous type of, description, 90-93. 

sensations of, 121. 

tired, 6. 

waking up, 122, 123. 
Childish brain states, reversion to, 191. 
Childish condition, reversion to, 192. 
Childlike for age, 32. 
Children, lonely, 120. 

of town, distant vision in, 65. 

sociability of, 175. 

social habits of, 159. 
Child study, 194. 

essential to teacher, 9. 

methods of, 9. 

natural history methods adopted 
for, 2, 3. 
Choice, 154. 

Chorea, or St. Virus's dance, 77. 
Circulation sluggish, 117. 
Circumference of head, 60. 
Classification of children, 73. 
Clothing, of child, 121. 

woollen, 121. 
Colour, apart from weight, p. 



INDEX 



225 



Colour without form, 65. 
Command, words of, 41. 
Compound brain action, 111. 

and coordinated action, 42. 

coordinated action, description of, 
39, 68, 69. 
Comradeship, 121. 

Conditions, observed with mental con- 
fusion, 195. 
Conduct, 216. 

examples, 165. 
Confusion, and methodical training, 89, 
Consciousness, 196. 
Continuous culture, value of, 5. 
Continuous growth and development, 

23- 

Control, followed by spreading action, 

17- 

improved by practice, 65. 

through muscle sense, 37. 

through senses, 65, 199. 

through sight and hearing, 37. 
Coordinated action, 69, 102, no, 175. 

and compound cerebration, 42. 

and environment, 207. 

and mental capacity, 42. 

appearance in infant, 43. 

description, 42. 

examples, 42. 

not produced for long, 69. 
Coordinated acts, spontaneity inter- 
vening, 69. 
Coordinated exercises, importance of, 

69. 
Coordination and spontaneity, in. 

and voluntary power, 202. 
Copy book in writing, 129. 
Corrugation, 58. 
Corrugator muscles, 50. 
Cortex, brain cells in, 209. 
Counting, on fingers, 38. 
Cricket, and brain training, n 1. 
Cubicles, 124. 
Culture and growth, 122. 
Curriculum, 122. 

Darwin, Charles, 184. 
Deafness and mental confusion, 186. 
Debility, hand balance in, 55. 
Delicacy, with small brain, 30. 
Q 



Delirium, 192, 193. 

Description, detailed, importance of, 48. 

of children, 73. 
Desfontaines, 100. 
Developmental signs, 89. 
Diatactic union, 209. 

illustration of, 107, 108. 

increased by training, 107. 

of nerve cells, 106, 107. 
Diet, 131. 

Dietary, breakfast, 133. 
Dietary, see Dinner. 
Difficulties and training, 59. 

in class, 177. 
Digestion and brain, 118. 
Dinner, dietary, 134. 
Directions, precise, 199. 

terms of, 162, 163. 
Distance and time, 168. 
Distinction between training and teach- 
ing, 10. 
" Dominant idea," 199. 
Dormitories, 124. 
Dress, not conspicuous, 121. 
Drill, advantages of, 66. 
Drilling and physical brain training, 

149. 
Dukes, Dr. Clement, 123. 
Dull pupils, 90. 

Ear, description of, 61. 
Early training, aims of, 20. 
Elementary vocal sounds, 16. 
Emotion, 71. 
Emotions, 115. 

parts moved in, 76. 

spreading area, 45. 
Environment, 73, 173. 

and series of acts, 204. 

influence of, on thought, 210. 

impression by, 198. 
Epilepsy, 16. 

petit mal, 16. 
Established modes of brain action, 201. 
Evolution, 68. 
Exactness in training, 69. 
Example, imitation of fatigue, 14. 

of act of memory, 187. 

of coordinated action, 99. 

of faults of children, 16. 



226 



INDEX 



Example of strong impression without 

outward expression, 187. 
Excitement, mental, 117. 
Exercise, 136, 137. 
Exhaustion, and brain action, 213. 

and muscular exercise, 180. 

causes of, 180. 

from bad ventilation, 180. 

of brain, signs of, 180, 181. 
Expansion of chest, 125. 
Expression, absence of, 52. 

and brain activity, 52. 

and eye movements, 52. 

and fatigue, 52. 

as a whole, 52. 

Camper, on, 86. 

Sir Charles Bell, on, 87. 
Eyes, 78. 

health of, 125. 

small, 9. 
Eyeball, accommodation in, 65, 66. 

in sleep, movements of, 25. 
Eye drill, 15. 
Eye fixation, in speech, 16. 

in spelling, 14. 
Eye movements and addition, 185. 

and proportion, 200. 

degree of, felt, 147. 

expression, 52. 

impressions of, 147. 

in reading, 185. 

in writing, 186. 

irregular so interfere with attention, 
180. 

irregularity in, 53. 

spontaneity in, 52. 

spontaneous, yet controllable, 58. 

training of, important, 145. 

Face, description in detail, 49. 

of child, 50. 
Faculty, mental, 149. 
Failure, causes of, 4. 
Fat and catarrh, 136. 
Fatigue, 122. 
Fatigue, and expression, 52. 

and fidgetiness, 119. 

and loss of appetite, 120. 

and mental effort, 199. 

early recognition of, 181, 182. 



Fatigue, -in master, 85. 

irregular movements in, 181. 

mental, 180. 

of brain, 94. 

of eyes, 126. 

restlessness of, confounded with 
spontaneity, 9. 
Features, absence of normal parts, 61. 

coarse, 61. 

symmetry of, 61. 

well-moulded, 61. 
Feeding, 16, 117. 

defective, effect on fontanelle, 175. 

regularity in, 29, 30. 
Female, brain weight, 60. 
Finger movements and brain state, 55. 
Finger twitches, 55, 56. 
First year, control by sight and sound, 
26. 

great brain growth in, 26. 

imitation commences, 29. 
Fixed habits, 34. 
Flat foot, 121. 

Flexion of limbs, at birth, 24. 
Fontanelle, closure of, 28. 

depressed, 175. 

description of, 27. 

in disease, 27. 

in health, 27. 

pulsation in, 175. 

shape, 27. 

size of, 28. 
Food, and brain, 118. 

articles of, 133-136. 
Forehead, signs in, 61. 
Frontal muscles, 50. 
Frontals, overacting, 57, 58. 
Frowning, 34, 50, 69. 

muscles used, 50. 

uniform repetition, 69. 
Furrows on brow, see Frontal muscles. 

Geography, study of, 168. 
Girls, delicate, 8. 

ill-developed, 8. 
Glands, enlarged, 78. 
Gregarious habits of nervous children, 

15- 
Grimaces, 34. 
Grinning, 34. 



INDEX 



227 



Grinning, and brain deficiency, 58. 

as a habit, 8. 

description, 51. 

unilateral, 51. 
Growth, analogy to movements, 97. 

and movement, 97. 

continuous, 23. 

coordinated action in, 99. 

diminishing number of parts grow- 
ing, 98. 

increasing number of parts grow- 
ing, 98. 

measurement of, 63. 

rapidity of, in early life, 23. 

uniformly repeated, 97. 
Guessing, 9. 

Gymnastics, German and Swedish, 151, 
152. 

Habits, good and regular, 120. 

lack of good, 5. 

mental, healthy, 16. 

need of training, 29. 
Hall, Dr. Stanley, 85. 
Hand, as index of brain, 53. 

of child in sleep, 54. 

postures of, 53-56. 
Hand balance {see Posture), 53. 

nervous, 54, 55. 

weak, 54. 
Hand exercises, accuracy in, 143. 

described, 144, 145. 

useful means of training, 143. 
Hands, coordinated action of, 53. 

held out, 53. 

held out at same level, 54. 
Hartwell, Dr. E. H., 130, 151. 
Head, at birth, 27. 

circumference at different ages, 23. 

measurement, 27, 28. 

small, 60. 
Heads, small, leading to delicacy, 

3°- 
Headache, 122. 

and orbicular muscles, 51. 
Headaches, 71. 
Health statistics, 138. 
Healthiness, 64. 

Healthy brain in healthy body, 4. 
Hearing, testing of, 79. 



High School girls, English, too much 

written home work, 183. 
History, study of, 168. 
Home training, 23. 
Home work, see High School girls. 
Honour, ideas of, 216. 
Hours of sleep and work, table of, 124. 
Hygiene, 117. 

mental, 7, 48, 139. 

of school life, physical and mental 
aspects of, 6. 

personal, 120. 
Hysteria, 115. 

Ideas of honour, 216. 
Illusions, example of, 71. 
Imaginations, 34. 
Imagining uncontrolled, 119. 
Imbecile, 64. 

and coordination, 106. 
Imitation, 142. 

faculty of, important, 30. 

of fatigue, 14. 

of signs of fatigue in teacher, 10, 12. 

of teacher, 13. 
Imposition, 183. 
Impressed, by hearing, 179. 

by sight, 179. 
Impressionability, described, 34, 35. 

distinct from memory, 188. 

example of, 64. 

increased by practice, 64. 

indicated, no. 

present, 35. 
Impressions, analogous, 190. 

auditory, 162. 

by muscle sense, 66, 162. 

cohesion of, 186. 

compound, 205. 

distinctness necessary, 211. 

early, and words, 65. 

fixed set of, 154. 

followed by mental processes, which 
are retained = adhesiveness, 188. 

from environment, 198. 

fundamental, 72. 

in order, 68, 211. 

of measurement and weight, 162. 

on brain by sight, sound, and 
feeling, 16. 



228 



INDEX 



Impressions produced singly, 161. 

retained in order, 112. 

revised, 200, 201. 

sensory, 177. 

simple reception of, 188. 

vocal, in. 

without use of words, examples, 
163, 164. 
Infant, and coordination, 106. 

at birth, 24. 

limbs flexed, 24. 

muscles, strength of, 24. 
Inhibition, by established principles, 
199. 

by stimulus, 35. 

date of appearance, 35. 

defined, 198. 

of movement, 35, 68. 
Instep, and boots, 121. 
Instruction, 64. 

should be preceded by training, 
10. 
Intellectual action, 207. 
Interaction among nerve centres, 152, 

I7S- 
Interest, added to teacher's daily 

duties, 2. 
Irritability, 87. 

Joy, increasing movements in, jj. 

Kindergarten, hand movements in, 78. 
Kinds of movements, not nerve signs, 

73- 

Knuckles, 58. 

Latitude, 112. 

Laughing, akin to crying, 96. 

Laughter, as an aid in teaching, 70. 

description, 87. 
Length, apart from bigness, 9. 
Lengths, compared, 161. 
Lessening series of movements, exam- 
ples, 75. 
Lessons, duration of, 158. 
Light, 16. 

in class-room, 126. 

to awake child, 122. 
Limbs, of infant at birth, 24. 
Literature, of education, 37. 



Liveliness, should be encouraged, 30. 

Loafing, 117. 

Longitude, and eye-movements, 112. 

Lordosis, 56-57. 

Lunch, 132. 

Lungs, description, 29. 

Male, brain weight, in, 60. 
Manifestation, earliest, of mental power, 

178. 
Manners, 132. 
Map, 112. 
Margarine, 135. 
" Master tissues," 130. 

size and strength of, 130. 
Meals, tea, 134, 135. 

times for, 133. 
Mechanism, nerve muscular, 104. 
Memory, 42, 113, 170. 

and physical exercises, 188, 189. 

defects of, 190, 195. 

kinds of, 188. 

of associated ideas, 189. 

reactivity of impressions, 186. 
Mental action, 32, 194. 

expressed by, 103. 

expressed by movement, 32. 

expression of, 194. 

how expressed, 4. 

quantity in given time, 182. 
Mental acts, series of, 189. 
Mental analysis, 171. 
Mental aptitude, 177. 

in a child, 195. 
Mental attention, signs of, 178. 
Mental breakdown, at adolescence, 195. 
Mental confusion, 176. 

and concomitant conditions, 195. 

and deafness, 186. 

and memory, 190. 

brain training in, 186. 

causes of, 185. 

quick pulse in, 186. 
Mental disorderliness, 194. 
Mental effort, and fatigue, 199. 
Mental evolution, 96. 
Mental faculty, 149. 
Mental habits, healthy, 16. 
Mental hygiene, 48, 139, 184, 194. 

sections of, 195. 



INDEX 



229 



Mental processes, accuracy needful, 
176. 

acting regularly, 176. 

of analysis, 190. 

training in, 157. 
Mental status, reversion in, 195. 

variable, 84. 
Mental training, in choice, 171. 
Military drill, producing precision, 

187. 
Mimosa pudica, 99. 
Mind, 102. 

Modes of brain action, fixed, 189. 
Money, knowledge of, 176. 
Month the fifth, inhibition, 35. 
Mouth, 51. 

asymmetrical action, " snarling," 51. 

small, 9. 
Movements, augmenting series of, 76. 

classes of, 74, 75. 

coordinated series of, jj, 78. 

extra, accompanying mental act felt 
by child, 43, 44. 

in newly born, 24. 

irregularity in, 8. 

lessening series of, 76, 77. 

of hand, in counting regular and 
uniform, 18. 

originated in brain, 24. 

respiratory, 178. 

spontaneous (see Spontaneous 
movements), hopeful, 2. 
Movements, spontaneous, in small 
parts, 178. 

of toes, 121. 

spreading, in baby, 175. 
Movements, trained, mental ability 
improved, 8. 

uniform series, 75. 
Muscles, as sense organs, 67. 

frontal, 50. 
Muscles of back, weak in infant, 24. 
Muscles, strain on, 67. 
Muscle sense, 141. 

examples of, 148. 

impressions by, 66. 

in movement, 37. 

in tension, 38, 148. 
Muscle tension, and weight proportion, 
200. 



Nails, 78. 

Natural history, methods of study, 
examples, 173. 

schedule, 72. 
Nerve cells, 113. 

grouped, 106, 209. 
Nerve centres, 26, 94, 95. 

for thought, 105. 

health and training of, 174 et seq. 

in action, 26. 

in adolescence, 174 et seq. 

in infancy, 174. 

in school life, 174 et seq. 

interaction among, 175. 

spontaneous action of, 177. 
Nerve paths, 41, 113, 142. 

and brain centres, 68. 

prearranged, 187. 

temporary, 105. 
Nerve signs, 73. 

and dulness, statistics, 59. 

co-relation with dulness, 58, 59. 

in eye-movements, 57. 

in face, 49-52. 

in hands and fingers, 54-56. 

in spine, 56, 57. 

may vary, 84. 

subnormal, 75. 

subnormal, associated with brain 
states, 59. 
Nerve storms, 115. 
Nerve tone, signs of loss of, 181. 
Nervous dyspepsia, 119. 
Nervousness, 71. 
Nervous type, 215. 

described, 90, 93. 
Normal child, 84. 
Nose, growth of, 61. 
Nostrils, small, 62. 
Numbers, teaching of, 159, 160. 

use of, 201. 
Numerals, order of, 211. 

use of, 189. 
Nursery, 23. 
Nutrition, 78, 89. 

Obedience, 208. 

Observation, after methods of natural 
history, 3. 
of body of child, 73. 



230 



INDEX 



Observation of character of brain 
action, 48. 
of children, 73. 
points to observe, 73, 74. 

Occupation, lack of, 119. 

Orbiculares oculi, muscles for closing 
eyelids, 51. 
tone of, 51. 

Orderly habits, 206. 

Organs, control exerted on one an- 
other, 118. 

Organic matter breathed out, poison- 
ous, 127. 

Organised work and games, value of, 
89. 

Origin of difficulties, 2. 

Originality, wanting, 215. 

Overmobility, 120. 

Overtaxing the memory, 187. 

Oxygen, in class-room, 127. 

Palate, 63. 

as indication of development, 63. 
Palpitation and disorderly brain action, 

5- 
Parsing, 170. 
Passion, storm of, 44. 
Peevishness, 87, 88. 
Phonograph, 187. 
Photograph of baby, 25. 
Physical exercises, 130. 

and memory, 188, 189. 

give good carriage and gait, 66. 

one advantage of, n. 
Physical training, duration of lesson, 
149. 

ends aimed at in, 130. 

quickens thought, 206. 
Physiognomy, 60. 

and nerve system, 60. 

and proportions, 60. 

as an indication of development, 60. 
Physiological law of impression, 68. 
Physiological terms of description, value 

of, 95, 96. 
Plants, and movement, 97. 

leaves of, need washing, 128. 
Play of infancy, impressions produced, 

67, 68. 
Playfulness, importance of, 30. 



Pleasure in teacher's work, 2. 

Pleat of ear, 61, 62. . 

Post card, for examination by child, 20. 

Postures, of infant at birth, 24. 

of hand, or balance, 53-56. 
Practice of finger exercises, 144. 
Precept, 21. 

truth of, modified by experience, 
20, 21. 
Prehensile act in infant, 35. 
Prehension, act of, 178, 179. 
Principal, of school, 14. 

knowledge of each pupil necessary 
to, 3. 
Proportion, and eye-movements, 200. 

estimation of, in length, 199. 

estimation of, in weight, 199. 

in arithmetic, 115. 

muscle sense in, 38. 
Proportions and physiognomy, 60. 
Prostration at adolescence, 5. 
Psychology, physiological, 59. 
Psychosis, 184, 191. 

Pulse, quick, in mental confusion, 186. 
Punctuality, in feeding, 119. 

in hours of sleep, 119. 
Pupil, and teacher, 109. 

of eye, contraction of, 188. 
Pupils of eyes in sleep, 25. 

Rapid observation, necessary in class 
training, 14. 
terms of description needed for, 73. 

Ratio, 161. 

Reading, 20, 150. 

Recovering from chorea, movements 
lessen, jy. 

Regiment of soldiers, and brain cen- 
tres, 94. 
analogy to brain, 102. 

Regularity in times for sleep and airing 
of child, 16. 

Repetition of action with accuracy- 
retentiveness, 11. 

Report of 100,000 children, see Refer- 
ences, 15, 41. 

Respiratory movements, see Move- 
ments. 

Response, 70, 71. 

appearance in infant, 45. 



INDEX 



231 



Response delayed, 9, 71, 203. 

of brain, 45, 174. 

quick, 9. 

vague, 180. 

verbal, 179 
Responsibilities, in family, 1. 

toward individual child, 1. 
Restlessness, 89. 
Restraint, freedom from, 216. 
Retention of impressions, 41. 
Retentiveness, 41. 

and memory, 42, 113. 

and numerals, 41. 

cultivated, 175. 

depends on, 41. 

for movements, 41. 

for thought, 41. 

low type of, 76. 
Reversion, and lowered nutrition, 101. 

and nutrition, in lower animals, 191. 

in attitudes, 101. 

in brain states, 191. 

in mental status, 195. 
Revival of former thoughts, 193. 
Rim of ear, 60. 
Rooms for sleeping, 122. 

Schedule for examining natural objects, 

171. 
School desks, 128. 
Schoolhouse, 125. 
School hygiene, 194, 195. 
School life, hygiene of, 6. 

temptations of, 215. 
School shop, 175. 

Scientific description of children, 73. 
Scientific principles, applied to study 

of mind, 79. 
Second year, speech begun, 16. 
Sedentary occupation and exercise, 

I3 6 - I 37- 
Seedling plant, 169. 

food of, 169. 
Self-help, 131. 
Self-reliance, 215. 
Sense, organs of, 178. 
Sense organs, exercise of, 65. 
Series of movements, augmenting, 75. 

coordinated, 75. 

lessening, 75. 



Series of movements, 75. 

uniformly repeated, 75. 
Seventh year, circumference of head, 
60. 

vocabulary, 165, 166. 
Short sight, 186. 
Shuttleworth, Dr. G. E., 64. 
Sick child, and coordination, 106. 
Sidgwick, Mrs. William H., 138. 
Sight, testing of, 78, 79. 
Size, estimation of {see Muscle sense), 
38. 

felt, 10. 
Size of object, apart from weight, 9. 
Skin, clear from cracks, etc., 80. 
Sleep and waking of child, 122, 123. 
Sleep, circulation during, 25. 

eyeballs movements of, 25. 

hours of, 124. 

infant in, 25. 

pupils in, 25. 
Slowness of action, and circulation, 117. 
Sloyd work, 78. 
Smiling, 58. 

Smith, Priestley, school desks, 129. 
Sounds, elementary vocal, 16. 
Spasm and stammering, 76. 
Speech, cultured, 175. 
Spelling, 15. 

Spine, curvature of, from bending at 
desks, 56. 

description of, 56. 

postures of, 56. 
Spontaneity, 64, 195. 

and brain activity, 175. 

and voluntary action, 198. 

arrested 178. 

described, 32. 

encouraged, 72, 167. 

in mental action, 33. 

in movement, 33. 

in young animals, 184. 

of plants in growth, 184. 

wanting, 215. 
Spontaneity, with impressionability, 68. 
Spontaneous action, excessive, 34. 

subnormal, 34. 

uniformly repetitive, 34. 
Spontaneous activities, 6. 

impressions controlling them, 6. 



232 



INDEX 



Spontaneous brain action, basis of 

mental power, 178. 
Spontaneous imagining, 119. 
Spontaneous movement, chattering, 30. 
indicates hopeful condition of brain, 

2. 
inhibited, no. 
in small parts, 178. 
of toes, 121. 
Spontaneous thinking — stories, doings 
of animals, conversations, 32, 

33- 
Spontaneous thoughts, inhibition of, 

212, 213. 
Spreading action, following first at- 
tempts at control, 16. 
Spreading area, 185. 
and emotion, 45. 
of brain action, 69. 
of movement, examples, 43, 44. 
stammering, 44. 
Spreading brain action, example, 202. 
Spreading movements, in baby, 175. 
Spreading spasm (see Stammering, 

etc.) , 76. 
Stammering, 44, 76. 
Standard of measurements, 162. 

weights, 162. 
Starchy foods, 29. 
Statistics, health of women in college 

life, 138. 
Statuary, 125. 
Status of child, 48. 
Stealing and epilepsy, 16. 
Sternum, 28. 
Strength, speed, and skill, exercise of, 

needed, 131. 
Strong stimulus, 214. 
Study of children, natural history 

methods adopted, 85. 
" St. Vitus's dance," 55. 
Subnormal action, 34. 
Subnormal nerve signs, examples, 75. 
Success and failure, causes of, to be 

worked out, 4. 
Superfluity of brain action, 44, 45. 
Superintendent of school, 72. 
Swedish and German gymnastics, 151, 

152. 
Symmetry of development, 61. 



Table of work and sleep, for age, 124. 
Teacher in class, relation to pupils, 3, 

109. 
Teaching and training, distinction, 10. 
Teaching, of names, 160. 

of numerals, 159, 160. 

of weights, 160. 

systematic, 211. 
Teeth, 78. 

cleaning of, 125. 
Teething, 29. 

Temperature, of class-room, 128. 
Test type, 80. 
Teutons and Gauls, martial exercise 

of, 151. 
Thinking, occurring during inhibition, 
36. 

self-contained, 200. 
Thought and interaction of centres, 

198. 
Thoughts, independent of senses, 34. 

power of expressing them, lacking, 
215. 

reactivity of, 192, 193. 

spontaneous, suppressed, 199. 

spreading area of, example, 203. 

value, depends on, 183. 
Thrift, ideas of, 130. 
Time and distance, 168. 
Time, appreciation of, 164, 165. 
Time for play, 175. 
Tired child, described, 6. See also 

Child. 
Toes of infant, movements of, 24. 
Tongue protruded, 43. 
Tonsils, 78, 80. 
Training, 65, 72, 140. 

and character, 69. 

and difficulties, 59. 

and future learning, 72. 

and teaching, distinction, 10. 
Training general characters of brain 

action, 71. 
Training hand exercises, 143. 
Training in making choice, 171. 

in mental processes, 157. 

in separating observations, 166, 167. 
Training, method in, 115. 

need of, from birth, 25. 

of eye-movements, 140. 



INDEX 



233 



Training, preceding teaching, 10, 140, 
141. 
without use of words, n. 
Transcription, 15. 
Tricks or habits, 75. 
Twitches of fingers, 55. 
Twitching of fingers holding pen, 74. 

Uncontrolled thinking, causes exhaus- 
tion, 120. 

Understanding of what is occurring in 
child's brain, 3. 

Uniform grinning and mental defi- 
ciency, 58. 

Uniform mental effort tiring, 54. 

Uniformly repeated growth, example, 

97- 
Uniformly repeated movements, ex- 
amples, 75. 

Varied environment, 215, 216. 
Ventilation, 122. 

and exhaustion, 180. 
Verbal memory, 188. 
Vertical script, 130. 

Visible indications of brain state ob- 
tained by careful observation, 9. 
Vision, distant, practice in, 125. 
Vitality given to body by brain, 5. 
Vivacity of brain in infant, 24. 
Vivacity of movement, 34. 
Vocabulary at seventh year, 165. 
Vocal impressions, 111. 
Volition, 196. 
Volitional action, 204. 

and antecedent impressions, 204. 
Volitional power and good health, 213. 

and low diet, 213. 
Volume of head, good, 90. 
Voluntary action, 205, 209. 

spontaneity in, 198. 
Voluntary power, 196. 



Voluntary power and comparison, 205. 

and control, 199. 

at birth, 203. 

at four months, 204. 

choice, 204, 205. 

evolution of, 203. 

mechanical, 215. 

mental, 197. 

modes of brain action leading to, 
209. 

motor, 197. 
Voluntary thoughts, 207. 

War Department, 94. 

Warmth and cold affects infant, 35. 

Waste of brain power, 72. 

Water cress, 134. 

Weakness of back muscles, 24. 

Weighing, 156. 

Weight, 38. 

estimate of, see Muscle sense. 

felt, 10. 

of child, increase in first year, 23. 
Weighted pill boxes, for testing, 158. 
Weights, appreciated, 38. 

and muscle tension, 200. 

order of, 211. 

teaching of, 160. 
Well-being of children, 1. 
What to look " at " and " for," know- 
ledge of, necessary, 9. 
Whispered speech and hearing, 81. 
Windows, 126. 
Woollen clothes, 121. 
Words, employment in training, 146, 

148. 
Work, hours of, table, 124. 
Working hypothesis, 104. 
Wrists, 58. 
Writing, 150. 

Year, second, speech commenced in, 16. 



THE STUDY OF CHILDREN 



AND 



THEIR SCHOOL TRAINING. 



FRANCIS WARNER, M.D. (Lond.), 
F.R.C.P., F.R.C.S. (Eng.), 

Physician to the London Hospital ; Lecturer on Therapeutics and on Botany at the 

London Hospital College ; Formerly Httnterian Professor of Anatomy 

and Physiology in the Royal College of Surgeons of England. 

i2mo. Cloth. Price $1.00, net. 



NOTICES. 

" This is a volume singularly clear and exact in its expression and definite in its 
generalization, the first really scientific monograph on child study that we have in any 
language. We believe that the publication of this volume will exert a profound and far- 
reaching influence for good in aiding teachers and parents in doing the best that can be 
done with children in various phases in life." — Journal of Pedagogy. 

" I am greatly pleased with the book, and I believe it will be of marked benefit to 
teachers in all grades of educational work. I trust it may find its way into the hands 
of a great many teachers and parents, for I feel it is of genuine merit, combining scien- 
tific and practical qualities in a happy manner." — Prof. M. V. O'Shea, University of 
Wisconsin. 

" I regard this volume as one of the very best contributions yet made on the subject 
of Child Study." — J. M. Greenwood, Supt. of City Schools, Kansas City, Mo. 

" This book seems to us an extremely suggestive and important one for teachers and 
parents; and being simply written, and free from technicalities, it may be understood 
and applied with ease by any reader." — The Dial. 

" The physical side of child development which has been frequently ignored is here 
presented in a very forcible and practical manner. The book will be most valuable 
to Kindergartners, and to all, mothers and teachers and students, who are interested in 
child study." — Miss Hilda Johnson, President of Kindergarten Union, N. Y. 
City. 

" The Study of Children is a most valuable book that should have a very large cir- 
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material dealing with the health and training of children. It is an original, strong, and 
thoroughly satisfactory work." — Boston Saturday Evening Gazette. 

" There is no better statement than is here given of the way to study a child. Dr. 
Warner tells what to look foivand what to look at." — Journal of Education. 

" This book is indispensable to the teachers' library and is full of information for 
those who are engaged in directing education, philanthropy, social settlement work, as 
well as any student of mental development." — Child Study Monthly. 

" The Study of Children and their School Training is one of the most valuable con- 
tributions yet made to the literature of scientific education. It contains information 
of interest to all who are intelligently awake to the progress of educational movement and 
other forms of social work connected with mental science." — Phila. Evening Tele- 
graph. 



THE MACM1LLAN COMPANY, 

66 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK. 



A COURSE OF LECTURES 

ON THE 

GROWTH AND MEANS OF TRAINING 

THE 

MENTAL FACULTY. 

DELIVERED IN THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE. 

BY 

FRANCIS WARNER, M.D. (Lond.), 
F.R.C.P., F.R.C.S. (Eng.), 

Physician to the London Hospital; Lecturer on Therapeutics and on Botany at the 

London Hospital College ; Formerly Hunterian Professor of Anatomy 

and Physiology in the Royal College of Surgeons of England. 

i2mo. Cloth. Price, 90 cents, net. 



NOTICES. 

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Every superintendent should study this book. Few works have 
appeared lately which treat the subject under consideration with 
such originality, vigor, or good sense." — Education. 

" A valuable little treatise on the physiological signs of mental 
life in children, and on the right way to observe these signs and 
classify pupils accordingly. . . . The book has great originality, 
and though somewhat clumsily put together, it should be very help- 
ful to the teacher on a side of his work much neglected by the 
ordinary treatises on pedagogy. 11 — Literary World. 

" The eminence and experience of the author, and the years of 
careful study he has devoted to this and kindred subjects, are a 
sufficient guarantee for the value of the book ; but those who are 
fortunate enough to examine it will find their expectations more than 
fulfilled. ... A great deal may be learned from these lec.-.es, 
and we strongly commend them to our readers. " — Canada Educa- 
tional Journal. 

THE MACMILLAN COMPANY, 

66 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK. 
















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